How to raise kids who read

[UglyCasanova]

Article

I picked up my paper from the other day and read this in it. The guy is right imo, but it is not just boys who are the problem. We are letting each successive generation become dumber and dumber. While advances are being made in science and technology are making our lives easier, and yes the younger generations are growing up in it and thus more technologically literate, is that all they should strive for? They are becoming smarter and dumber at the same time.

 

[bobdole369]

What an excellent point. I have a distant cousin who actually writes in txt. They really don't know how to read anymore! I don't know if its the attention span (my generation had one that was the length of time between commercial breaks supposedly, I suspect this generation is less than a minute).

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Reading is an inefficient way to learn. Someday, all knowledge will be liquefied so we can drink all we need to know.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Reading is an inefficient way to learn. Someday, all knowledge will be liquefied so we can drink all we need to know.

Isn't it ironic that back when I was heavy drinker I never read and thought I already knew everything.

 

[Udgnim]

internet culture is destroying the younger generation

 

[sdifox]

reading is important. If nothing else it teaches routine. Plus you get to spend some time with your kid.

 

[highland145]

Isn't it ironic that back when I was heavy drinker I never read and thought I already knew everything.

Me too.:\

This:

The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.

My 9 year old reads like a machine. Magic tree house, C.S. Lewis, Hardy Boys, etc. On his own with no prompting. He's getting positive reinforcement from school and the family he sees every day reads non stop.

 

[DaveSimmons]

"For elementary- and middle-school boys, that means "books that exploit [their] love of bodily functions and gross-out humor." AP reported that one school librarian treats her pupils to "grossology" parties. "Just get 'em reading," she counsels cheerily. "Worry about what they're reading later."

Maybe, but when I was a kid it was Roald Dahl books and Encyclopedia Brown mysteries not "Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger." My parents would take us to the library and let us find books that interested us, like books on WWI flying aces, which led me to read Eddie Rickenbacker's Seven Came Through when I was eight or nine.

Our house was also filled with books, including piles of SF and fantasy that I started reading in my early teens.

(Yeah I know: cool story bro -and- anecdotal story is anecdotal)

 

[Ryland]

It looks like the absolute easiest way is to home school..

"There is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties? "

And as a homeschooling family we have never (nor do we know of any) who have thrown grossology parties and I occasionally have to call my son numerous times to get him to put book down and pay attention.

As a 12 year old I was reading Stephen King novels which my father didn't like but my mother figured that at least I was reading. I wonder if I still have my Encyclopedia Brown books around...

 

[TridenT]

Books suck.

Never liked reading many of them. They were just dreadfully boring.

It looks like the absolute easiest way is to home school..

"There is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties? "

And as a homeschooling family we have never (nor do we know of any) who have thrown grossology parties and I occasionally have to call my son numerous times to get him to put book down and pay attention.

Idk if homeschooling is a viable option for everyone... >.>

Also, confirmation bias much?

Boys don't show an interest because they're fucking boys.

Jesus christ. What the hell is with this mentality, it's like this person has never looked at the past to see that people were much more stupid back in the past than they are now.

 

[destrekor]

I read quite a bit growing up, and enjoyed every book I read (for the most part). As I aged, however, I became more entertained with instant feedback from the computer and video games. My attention level is worse now as well.

However, I can definitely appreciate a good book - college course books, on the other hand, often bored me to sleep. If it was good, I often got side-tracked in thought, either in disagreement, or lost in wonderland and puzzled (sociology and psychology courses will do that to you). I'm definitely educated and civilized, however... I also found the easily-accessible information all over the web, and have become a heathen in the minds of many.
That's the evils of both an educated and plugged-in world. Quick, don't let boys get educated and have instant access to the world - you'll spawn hellish fiends that have a thirst for battering the narrow-minded.
:biggrin:

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Boys don't show an interest because they're fucking boys.

Pedobear wants your home videos.

 

[destrekor]

Books suck.

Never liked reading many of them. They were just dreadfully boring.



Idk if homeschooling is a viable option for everyone... >.>

Also, confirmation bias much?

Boys don't show an interest because they're fucking boys.

Jesus christ. What the hell is with this mentality, it's like this person has never looked at the past to see that people were much more stupid back in the past than they are now.

You don't realize just how far you go to prove that passage true.
Hell, you still act like a young teen.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Isn't it ironic that back when I was heavy drinker I never read and thought I already knew everything.

You write country music?

 

[TridenT]

Pedobear wants your home videos.

Keep wishin'. ()

 

[sdifox]

Books suck.

Never liked reading many of them. They were just dreadfully boring.

It shows.

 

[TridenT]

You don't realize just how far you go to prove that passage true.
Hell, you still act like a young teen.

Because I happen to be smarter than almost everyone on this board I happen to prove that stupidity as fact?

Maybe I just don't like act like an obedient slave?

 

[surfsatwerk]

You write country music?

No, but I was a blackout drunk and my wife backed over my dog when she left me for another man.

 

[TridenT]

It shows.

Your reading comprehension shows as well. I'm glad you can tell by that sentence that I am really not interested in reading boring drivel by some snob in Massachusetts.

 

[highland145]

No, but I was a blackout drunk and my wife backed over my dog when she left me for another man.

At least it wasn't for a woman.

 

[SunnyD]

My oldest son reads. A lot. And he's damn smart too - in a book-smart sort of way. He's got the common sense of a rock though.

My oldest daughter reads too, and she's also very smart. Thankfully she has a bit more common sense than her brother.

My youngest daughter reads. She's not too bright though, and has the common sense of a toothpick.

I read to my youngest son just about daily, and he's pretty bright. Too early to determine the common sense part of it though.

We make all our kids read for half an hour before bed. A good time to get them wound down, as well as literate. My kids can read, that's for sure. My oldest will digest a novel in the span of a couple nights. He'll burn through a Harry Potter book in maybe 3 days tops. But man oh man... what I'd give for them to have a bit more common sense. I'd happily settle for a kid that doesn't know how a black hole works for one that wouldn't give me grief about taking a shower or picking up their dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper despite being reminded several times to do so.

 

[sdifox]

Your reading comprehension shows as well. I'm glad you can tell by that sentence that I am really not interested in reading boring drivel by some snob in Massachusetts.

Actually, you said you are not interested in reading since it was boring. I got that. But in case you forgot, here is what you wrote again.

Originally Posted by TridenT
Books suck.

Never liked reading many of them. They were just dreadfully boring.

 

[rh71]

my .02... whenever we read to our twin boys it's about a minute of attention span... then they either flip the pages or grab it entirely. More fun for them is identifying objects and challenging them that way. Currently at 2, they only know about 10 words but they can do everything else on par - they're in an early intervention program for speech. According to administrators, delayed speech is common for boys (let alone twin boys). The boy:girl ratio is overwhelming. It's part genetics. They go on to say that the boys-and-their-cars thing is also partly genetic. Girls simply don't care as much for those and it's not because parents steer them in any direction. If your boy likes to read, consider yourself lucky. It's not because you made him like it.

 

[CZroe]

Boys don't show an interest because they're fucking boys.

What? Like they weren't boys BEFORE the 1992 video game console wars? By your reasoning, boys would have always been behind girls.

 

[highland145]

We make all our kids read for half an hour before bed. A good time to get them wound down, as well as literate. My kids can read, that's for sure. My oldest will digest a novel in the span of a couple nights. He'll burn through a Harry Potter book in maybe 3 days tops. But man oh man... what I'd give for them to have a bit more common sense. I'd happily settle for a kid that doesn't know how a black hole works for one that wouldn't give me grief about taking a shower or picking up their dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper despite being reminded several times to do so.

No such creature.