Reading for Fun

When I was nine or ten years old, I read hour after hour, transporting myself most often to River Heights to solve the mysteries of the The Clue of the Broken Locket and The Secret of the Old Attic with Nancy Drew, George, Bess and Ned. I remember my mother telling my sister and me, “Put down those books and go outside and play!” So we went outside and built a fort out of quilts thrown over the clothesline and …. read.

Reading was and still is my favorite leisure time activity. I love to travel to exotic places, make new friends and learn something new and can do those things everyday when I read a good book. But most reading for children and young adults, especially in schools today, is not tied to “fun” but to lexile levels (see link below for definition) comprehension, and Accelerated Reader points.

A major component of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is reading. In order to be a “passing school”, schools must meet minimum state standards that increase yearly toward a goal of 100% of students demonstrating proficiency in reading and language arts by the year 2014. As a result, schools are spending more time and money on reading intervention programs to help struggling readers become better readers. But do they enjoying reading and are they becoming literate? What can a parent do to help?

A 2004 study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that less than half of the adult American population reads literature. (The NEA survey asked respondents if they had read any novels, short stories, plays, or poetry. A positive response to any of those categories is counted as reading literature, including popular genres such as mysteries, as well as contemporary and classic literary fiction. No distinctions were drawn on the quality of literary works. “Reading at Risk”, NEA, pg. 2) Not only has reading declined in all groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young. The first step in students enjoying reading and becoming literate is at home. Evaluate your own literary efforts by answering the following questions.

Do my children read for fun every day?

Do I have three or more different types of reading materials in my home (newspapers, magazines, books, encyclopedias)?

Do I discuss with my child their studies and books that they are reading?

Do my children participate in less than 3 hours of television/video games/Internet activities per day?

Do my children do at least an hour of homework daily?

Do my children see me read daily?

Do I read for fun every day?

These questions are based on findings about reading habits from the 1999 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term reading assessment of 9, 13, and 17 year olds. In every case, students who: 1) read for fun every day, 2) have access to three or more types of reading materials at home, 3) discuss literature and homework with parents, 4) participate in less than 3 hours of electronic media, 5) do at least an hour of homework, and 6) see a parent read (and read for fun daily) have higher reading scores than students who don’t. A parent’s example cannot be replaced by any number of software programs, reading specialists or any amount of money.
Life seems faster and more complicated than ever before. How can parents find time to read and help your children to read, especially for fun?

1. Unplug! Turn off the electronic media. Set time aside when home is an Internet, phone, video game, and television free zone.
2. Read the scriptures. Reading scriptures with the family requires discussion for comprehension. My experience has been that students who read the scriptures together with their families have more extensive vocabularies, higher-level thinking skills and better reading comprehension than students who do not.
3. Learn together. Read school-required novels, plays, poetry and other literature with your student.
4. Subscribe to your local newspaper and a magazine. Not only will you get the news but you get grocery coupons too.

Grab your newspaper, Harry Potter, Romeo and Juliet or the scriptures. Last one to the clothesline is a rotten egg!

References:
http://www.scholastic.com/schoolage/experts/learning/9_12_lexilelevels.htm

http://www.nea.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf

http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/NAEP.html

Booklists:
The following websites offer numerous young adult and children’s book titles in a plethora of genres.
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists
http://nancykeane.com/rl/