RSS feedForcing Children to Read Does NOT Work
The little girl’s alarm rang and she immediately slammed her book closed. Her 25 minutes of required reading for the day was up and she wasn’t about to read a second longer - she didn’t care if she was in the middle of a sentence, let alone a chapter. As the alarm rang, another girl (also doing her required reading) asked the first girl a question about how much reading her grade required (not a question about the content or anything fun). A parent, not a parent or teacher to either of the girls, interrupted the second girl and reminded her that she would have to have time deducted for the whole time she talked to the first girl (she talked about 15 seconds and the woman deducted about 5 minutes). The girl was afraid to complain for fear more time would be taken away from her total.
Welcome to the life of today’s elementary schooled child. The above is a factual story of girls waiting before their dance class where my daughter attends. They are often dropped off an hour (or more) before their dance class and required to sit that entire time and do their homework. Yet, they hesitate to do it until an adult can witness them because it doesn’t count until they get an adult signature (on a special form) for every single part — every day.
They are required to read 5-7 days a week for a set amount of time. Depending on the school, they might be required to write a summary report on said reading — every single day. They have word minimums on that summary report, too! [Reading e-books and magazines don't count for the required reading, and neither do audio books - which my daughters and I listen to all the time.]
What does this required reading do to these kids? It makes them HATE reading. Seriously hate reading. They read for exactly the number of seconds they are required to and not a single second more. It’s not fun. They hate it. Where I live, public schools have been back in session nearly three weeks now. At my younger daughter’s dance classes, we get to hear all about school, teachers, and homework during and after (and sometimes during with little comments) dance class. These kids hate the whole thing and they have no outlet to express these deep feelings.
Meanwhile, the group of homeschooled and unschooled children that my family hangs around with read so much they can’t get enough book recommendations. They read books like they drink water — this is the complete opposite of their schooled counterparts. And, yet people wonder why my family hasn’t gone the traditional American lifestyle route.
I don’t interact with a lot of schooled children anymore, so I’m always shocked when I overhear them talking about their lives. These kids aren’t lazy or stupid. They are brilliant small people who are getting the life sucked out of them and their souls torn away. I can see the glassy eyed looks behind their eyes. It isn’t good.
It needs to stop. The only way we can do this is by taking our children out of school and by not allowing the schools to dictate their lives.
