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Accepting Your Child’s Reading Choices — 10 Comments

  1. In 6th grade, my oldest son had a teacher who was overly critical of his reading choices. She complained to him not only about the book he was reading (a biography of Steve Jobs) but how long it was taking him to read it. It got to the point where I had to confront the teacher about it. “Is he reading when he should be paying attention to other lessons?” No. “Is his reading disrupting the class?” No. “Is his reading of this book interfering with the reading he is required to do for the class?” No. The teacher even admitted to me that she did allow free reading and that the children were all encouraged to choose their own books, without the aid of a suggested reading list, for free reading time in class, and that she did not tell any of the other students what they could or could not read. It was, as my son reported to me, only the reading choice of my son that she had a problem with. I asked her why and she said, “Because I don’t understand technology! Besides, what is the point of reading about a dead man?” Yes, she actually said that to me! I told her using that logic, my son also should not be studying pre-algebra (as I don’t understand combining letters and numbers) or history (as most of the people in the history books are also dead.) She did not like that at all! “Bottom line,” I told her, “his father and I have approved his reading book. So long as he is not slipping Playboy between the pages or reading at times that disrupt learning, there is no reason for him to not be reading that book.”

    It was so disheartening that a teacher was giving him such a hard time. I don’t understand his fascination with technological subjects or sci-fi and fantasy stories. But my son is READING. To me, that is the important part. So long as he is not reading things that are inappropriate for his age, I have no problems with his reading materials.

    Lynn

    • That’s too bad, Lynn. We spend so much time encouraging reading that to give a child such a hard time over his totally appropriate selection could turn him off reading for a while.

      Praying things go well for the remainder of the school year.

  2. A great post, Cheryl. I agree with you.

    I think we are kindred spirits ~ I loved the Anne of Green Gables Series & the Little House books too. Oh, & it was reading Rilla of Ingleside that I learnt more about WW1 & became interested in the differences between that & WW2 ~ which over here in UK is taught heavily in schools, particularly the Battle of Britain.

    I’m also not a great lover of fantasy either. However, I did love Peter Pan (I think that had a lot to do with the fact that it had a Wendy in it!) The Chronicles of Narnia & John Houghton’s Oswain Tales. My mum really does not like fantasy, but she would read the stories to us. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realised how much she disliked that type of fiction!

    • Thanks Wendy. Kindred spirits we are. Rilla of Ingleside was a tough book to read considering some of the content, but the ending made it worth it.

      My nephew just worked on The World Wars that aired on History Channel over Memorial Day weekend. That series connected the major players and the roles they played in WWI and WWII. I found it fascinating.

  3. Great post, especially on this subject because I just love picture books. As my grandchildren grow, I’ll be looking more into Chapter Books.

  4. Great advice, the saying choose your battles comes to mind.
    With little boys, parents are often unwilling to count comic books as reading. My advice is if there are words on a page it counts, lol.

    • Corine, I am a big pick your battles person. With a strong-willed child in the house, I would spend all my time arguing otherwise. I read a lot of comics growing up. They definitely count. 🙂 Thanks for the comments.

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