Making Children Hate Reading

was challenged by parents of students attending Cummings High School in the year of 1986. Apparently, the book was arequired reading, and parents pushed for it to become an optional reading assignment. Some parents did not want their children to

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society:

After reading John Holt’s essay, How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading, I fully agree with what Holt is saying. He tells his audience that forcing children to read, use a dictionary and take quizzes on what they read has proven to deter children from enjoying reading. I liked reading it, I liked how he showed that he understood both sides of the situation, but then realized how important it was for children to just read. Even though they did not fully understand the material they still found parts of the readings that made them happy. I liked how Holt made the point about how embarrassed students would get when they had to read a difficult part in a book and classmates would snicker and giggle if they made a mistake. That is a real thing,

While all fields of academia possess some level of practical application, there remains an ever-important and all-encompassing skill which is needed to truly understand each subject: reading. Though literacy rates in the US near 100%, literacy unaccompanied by tools such as context, critical analysis, and sufficient skepticism can leave one lost in arduous texts and vulnerable to flawed arguments. This notion is rarely rejected by anyone at face value, rather, questions regarding the implementation and perceived importance of certain reading strategies alienates differing camps. Many attempts at mitigating the dilemma of subpar reading comprehension have been made, most notably, Daniel Willingham's proposed reform of early education, Michael

Reflecting on my life as a means of deciding on a topic, one time period struck me as particularly important in terms of writing itself: my second year of second grade. Moving to Poway in 2007, the first class I was in was Mrs. Ramin’s 2-3 combo at Painted Rock. I had purple wire-rim glasses, a brown Hello Kitty tracksuit, two friends, and a hatred of writing. This was particularly unfortunate for young Analise, since Mrs. Ramin’s main focus was writing. She encouraged her students to write daily, setting aside 20-60 minutes each day for it. Although I hated it at first, my passion for creative writing grew as I turned my love for my sister and for Webkinz into tales of adventure and peril parallel to my then favorite series, Magic Tree House. I wrote, drew, and colored whatever my seven-year-old imagination spun for me. After that spark, the fire of writing died down to a smolder until eighth grade, when I wrote my first successful essay, “Flowers for Algernon: A Comparative Essay On How Two Versions of the Story are like

Richard Rodriguez, in the passage “Remedial Reading” from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”(1982), promotes active reading as a developer of one’s mind. He justifies his position by describing his initial experiences with reading, specifically his attachment to the reading. Rodriguez’s anecdote functions as an encourager of stubborn minds trying to read and displaying its potential to change their life for the better. Rodriguez uses a very descriptive style that may be too verbose for children but compliments the verbosity with enough explanation of his purpose for his message to be known or ascertained.

I think the answer to this question depends on your definition of reading. One who believes reading is being able to say written words, might say that babies can be taught to read. However, someone who believes reading is being able to say written words and be able to understand their meaning individually and as a whole, may say babies cannot learn to read. I do not think babies can learn to read, because the are not truly comprehending. Like the article, and the video, I think babies who are "being taught to read" using these products are simply being taught memorization. They see the same words on the flashcards provided over and over again. They are not aware of the sounds that make up the words they are saying, therefore they cannot use

As of late, the literacy rates in America have declined. In fact, over the past ten years “book reading [in] young women slipped from 63 percent to 59 percent, while young men plummeted from 55 percent to 43 percent” (why johnny won’t read pg. 575) Boys have a lower tendency to read than girls due to the fact that school forces them to read things that they are not interested in. Although in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read pg. 176,” Prose points out that

I attended the seminar entitled “Getting Boys to Read” held in the Erma C Byrd center of the West Virginia University hospital campus on Thursday November 5th . The presenter was a teacher / librarian named Mike McQueen. In his presentation he spoke about strategies to make reading more appealing to young male readers, and common mistakes that he feels tend to drive young boys from reading. Some of the concepts Mr. McQueen puts forth are common well known facts that may only surprise the most isolated and close minded of teachers. Other ideas were more interesting and some near self contradictory. Included in the seminar the attendees were given a copy of the speaker’s book by the same title. The book gives 114 tips and strategies to help literacy in boys and expert interviews to reinforce his strategies.

With reading being the cornerstone of society it is expected that children begin learning about literature in their most formative years. With children reading younger and younger it should come as no surprise that something as loved and personal as reading should be turned into a competition among children (more personal). This unfortunate truth has followed me through the majority of my academic career turning literature into a job and annoyance. Much like many schools, my primary education required the logging of reading to ensure the students were spending some of their time enriching themselves rather than wasting it, according to the faculty. Being the competitive natured children we were, seeing who could read the most soon became the

Children can take more than one of these steps at the same time. This list of steps, though, gives you a general idea of how your child will progress toward reading.” (Helping your child become a reader) While these ideas may seem structured, it is also important to allow children to be creative and use their imagination. Although reading is imperative, too many arrangements and rules can turn a child off and lead to feelings of resentment, anger, and resistance. Reading should be set to the tone and pace of the child.

Many parents believe their child is too young to begin reading, but an award winning childcare facility will teach you and your child the importance of reading. Of course, learning to read doesn’t only allow your child to hear stories. Your child will benefit from reading in the following extraordinary ways.

For a child who is just starting to learn to read, they need sufficient practice in reading a variety of different books to achieve fluency. Reading can be complex and has many different aspects (Burns,1999). It is suggested that children who have problems reading and writing at a young age will find it hard to catch up as they get older and will not reach their full potential as adults, many will withdraw from school or society and some becoming involved with crime (MacBlain,2014). 40 percent of children find learning to read a challenge but with early help, most reading problems can be prevented (Reading Rockets, n.d.).

Reading – the ability to represent the sounds of language by written symbols has existed for approximately 4000 to 5000 years and is inarguably one of the most fundamental and wonderful technique humans have ever developed. However, despite much effort and funding dedicating to wide literacy development, even now in America for instance, 50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level (National Center for Learning Disabilities). In order for the entire population of today’s society to have proper reading skills, scholars and educators around the world realize that literacy movements need to focus on much earlier stages of human development. Researchers in the education field have reached a consensus that reading is crucial in childhood by revealing supporting evidence from studies focused on children aged 0-6 years, 6-12, and young adolescents. Many interesting findings also include that reading proficiency of children is critical because it can reflect society’s criminal and economical status. Moreover, modern studies show that the importance of childhood reading cannot be fully explained without mentioning the environment where children are raised, as the environment greatly affects children’s reading proficiency.