A Few Thoughts on Reading

*Note to reader:  I started this post 2 weeks ago, but it never went live on my blog.  So today I finished the post.

September 22 & October 1, 2014

Reading is a big part of our lives.  In fact, think about the number of times you read something in one day.  I would venture to say that it would be impossible to go through an entire day without reading something.  I am not talking about reading a book, but just reading signs that tell you what street you are on, which bathroom to use, even if you watch TV all day, there are signs and phrases that you would see on shows and commercials.  We all can remember how we first learned to read.  I can recall learning to read in first grade (standards weren’t so rigorous on kids back then and more emphasis was put on creativity and play than academics like it is today).  All of us had anxiously awaited learning how to read.  We got our books out and I remember opening the page and looking at the words expecting them to just start flowing out of my mouth, but instead it was hard!  How could this be?  I was an ace at my alphabet.  I could read the letters, write them, find them on the chalk board topper and identify objects that started with letters.  So why was putting all the letters together to make words so hard?  Reading wasn’t as easy as I anticipated but it took lots of practice.  I loved reading though. 

The first series of books that I remember falling in love with and spending hours reading in my bed over Christmas break was The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin.  I know some of you are shaking your head because you remember those stories.  My Grandma Smidt first introduced me to the books for my 8^th birthday.  Once I got to know about Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey I had to keep going.  As each book in the series came out, I snatched up a copy from the book store and kept reading about the additional characters and adventures from “the baby-sitters.”  It wasn’t just The Babysitters that excited me.  There was The Boxcar Children, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sweet Valley High, Nancy Drew, and for some reason I loved the books by R.L. Stine, even though I probably had nightmares about them.  They were so scary to read at night.

As I have grown up, I have continued my love for reading.  I am an emotional person and I get so caught up in the story like I am part of the family or mystery that is taking place.  I often think about how the characters feel or what it must be like to be battling a disease, overcoming an illness, celebrating milestones, going on adventures, or even learning about real people and events in history.  Historical Fiction is one of my FAVORITE genres!

Even now as a mom of young children, I want to instill a love of reading with my own kids.  I have had so many parents over the years tell me that they love reading, but they just can’t get their own kids to appreciate it.  For some, it takes some time or even years to discover a love for reading.  Some of it has to do with finding a series or book that peaks their interest.  My girls love books.  We are always “reading.”  They just turned 3 years old and now they are starting to read books on their own. Now, I don’t mean reading word for word, but turning the pages and making up their own words.  It is so fun to see.  I don’t want them to start reading yet.  Just learning to love books and looking at pictures is enough for me.  They have plenty of time to learn how to read the actual words on a page.  One of their favorite types of books are animal books.  There are so many things that you can discuss with them while “reading.”  We talk about the different types of animals, where you might find them, what they eat, compare them to humans, and just enjoy looking at the pictures.

Recently I ran across an article about reading titled, “Why Can’t I Skip My 20 Minutes of Reading Tonight?”  The article illustrates the difference the amount of time spent reading by students on a daily basis is.  For example, if Sylvia reads 20 minutes a day, that equates to 3600 minutes or 60 whole school days.  Now look at Bob who reads 5 minutes a day which equates to 900 minutes or 12 school days.  Sylvia will read about 1,800,000 words and Bob 282,000.  I think that it is easy to see the difference between reading for 20 minutes and 5 or none at all!  Make reading a family activity.  Sit down together and have everyone read for 20-30 minutes and share afterwards what you’re reading was about.  Read together, take turns reading paragraphs or pages, read magazines, newspaper articles, websites, etc.  All forms of print are good practice.  Besides, kids need good modeling so having you read to them is a great way for students to learn how to read more fluently and learn harder vocabulary.

I recently was part of one of those silly Facebook challenges.  This one had to do with reading so I thought it looked like fun. The idea was to write down the top 10 books that have been meaningful to you.  Below is the list that I created.  The books are in no particular order and they were the ones that I thought of rather quickly.  Of course there are tons of books that I could share with you, but for now this is a list.  The genres are a variety of Young Adult, Children’s, Christian Lit, Fiction, and Historical Fiction.  If you have read any of them, let me know what you think.  Also, from time to time, I will be reviewing books on my blog, so look for those as well!

Several of the books on my list have now been made into movies.  So you might ask yourself, why not just go to the movie instead of reading the book?  Well, as most literature lovers will tell you, the book doesn’t really compare to the movie.  Why is that?  There is so much more detail and emotion that goes into a book.  You have to use your imagination to create the scene in your head instead of having Hollywood do it for you.  There have been some good movies produced from books, and if you haven’t read the book you might think they were good.  Just some things to consider the next time you pick up a book….

Happy Reading!

 

10 books that I love or that have been meaningful for me include, in no particular order:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
2. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
3. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
4. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
5. Gods at War by Kyle Idleman
6. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
7. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
8. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

****Honorable Mention- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and all of her novels. Mostly because my grandmother (the English teacher) loved them and I took a J-term class about them in college thinking it would be "fun!"