Studying library science, I have been thinking a lot about reading. I love to read. I have loved reading since I was in second grade. In first grade, I was in the slow reading group. Over a school break, while staying at my Grandma's, I started reading her collection of Little Golden Books. From that moment, it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I was absorbed in the world of books.
Reading is something that I wish everyone loved. I have members of my family that don't love to read. I have friends that don't love to read. In fact, more people aren't big "readers" than are. And when I see the statistics, I am saddened.
When I see the list of the most literate countries, I am shown that this is not true of all countries.
1 Finland
2 Norway
3 Iceland
4 Denmark
5 Sweden
6 Switzerland
7 US
8 Germany
2 Norway
3 Iceland
4 Denmark
5 Sweden
6 Switzerland
7 US
8 Germany
9 Latvia
10 Netherlands
10 Netherlands
Research shows "The presence of books in the home has a greater influence on a
child's level of education than does the parents' income, nationality, or
level of education. A 20-year study shows how investing in books can
make a big difference."
What do the top countries do differently than America? The United
States makes the list at number seven, but we aren't in the top by
libraries, newspapers, or computers in each household.
The difference is in how books and childhood are presented to the students. Take, for instance, the tradition of Jolabokaflod in Iceland. The word translates to "book flood." Books are exchanged as Christmas Eve presents, then the rest of the night is spent reading and eating chocolate (a wonderful dream for me). Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country. Books are important.
Literate countries value books. They provide access to books, lots of books, and information. It's an attitude that, as the statistics about reading show, isn't pervasive in our society. "I don't like to read." "I don't have time." "I would rather watch TV." I hear this often, and wonder why it is that books are looked at as almost an enemy, something to be almost mocked by a culture held captive by passive, easy entertainment.
But there is something more.
America has libraries. We have schools. We have newspapers. We have computers. But, we lack some things. We lack equal access to these resources. The poorest among us still don't have access to all these items. The best we can offer is the local library. The local library is a wondrous institution that provides the least among us access to these resources. However, if books in the home help contribute to academic success, we are failing our poorest children.
Something else is off, however. Americans used to believe strongly in literacy, so that equal access to the Bible was had by all. The educational resources of our pioneering days was very grounded in the Bible. Just read some of the original McGuffey Readers, which were used to teach literacy in students for years and years. Somewhere along the way, the motivation changed.
The goal changed from having access and ability to understand God's Word to educational achievement. Slowly, over the years, as God was left out, the reason for reading became more and more about achievement. Achievement seems a noble cause, but it is one that leaves many in the cold. In the quest for achievement, education was begun at younger and younger ages. Many were left out. Access for the poorest was limited. Those that struggled academically were left out, and the number of learning disabilities increased as the beginning ages for compulsory school was lowered repeatedly and passive entertainment began to grow in popularity. Eventually, the attitude toward reading changed because the motivator was about achievement, not enlightenment. When the motivation changed, so did the number of people that felt it was important.
There will always be many that are competitive and are drawn to achievement's quest for more, faster and younger. And there will be those that, if it feels like a competition, have no desire to be a part. Over time, the joy of reading diminishes. This seems to be a problem all over the world. According to the National Library of New Zealand, "Reading for enjoyment tends to decrease with age. And, children from
lower socioeconomic groups do it less than children from higher socioeconomic groups."
This takes a toll on academics in a child's life. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, "In the USA, an alarming 65 percent of fourth graders in public school were reading below the proficient level in 2015."
What happens to cause children to despise reading? My theory is that reading is made to be a hard thing. It's a subject. Kids are categorized, literally grouped, by how quickly they learn to read. While there are some children that naturally pick up on reading at four, most don't. We (meaning American society and our education system) push too early. We push letters and sight words. We even push phonics too early. We make children feel as if something is wrong with them if they aren't reading by age six, seven at the latest. Surely the child must have a learning disability if they haven't broken the reading code by that age. Brain researchers have proven that boys often develop different systems more slowly than girls, making reading at early ages more difficult. The problem is actually exacerbated by being forced to sit in a classroom at earlier ages, not being able to run and move and play like they always did in the past. A child that learns to read at age eight or nine would be labeled as learning disabled in a school setting, but often they catch up quickly to the child that was reading at four or five. However, if they aren't made to feel learning disabled, they will know that their intelligence isn't lower, their brain simply matured at a different pace.
I have seen this often with my children. One daughter struggled in math for a long time. I would get frustrated and feel like I was failing her because, no matter how many times we reviewed the multiplication table, she couldn't retain. Then, one day, a light clicked. I had stopped pushing and backed up. We focused on other areas, such as addition, subtraction, fractions, etc. When we went back to multiplication, suddenly, she remembered them. She then quickly advanced, catching up to her peers in months.
The same goes for reading. My children have, for the most part, been natural readers... except one. One daughter struggled to learn to read. She was in public school, and was given an IEP. If I had known then what I know now about children's brains and learning, I would have perhaps been able to help her more effectively. I feel that the public school system made things so much worse for her. She grew to hate reading. First, the focus was on sight words. Her ADHD brain developed at a slower pace, and memorizing the large quantity of sight words was not working for her. I spent six weeks over the summer teaching her phonics, and she advanced three reading levels, but the school still insisted she had to be held back. I wish she would have had the opportunity to learn at a slower pace, repeating materials that were more simple for her, until her brain developed more fully. I wish the focus had been on reading to her, giving her a love of books and story, and letting her roam and play and be active more. But, alas, she wasn't my biological daughter. I didn't know then what I have learned in the years since. And, while I was able to assign a lot of reading in her later years when I was able to homeschool her, by then it was too late. She is not a reader now.
How many times are similar things happening to students all over the country? A niece of mine was enduring a similar situation in Kindergarten a few years back. KINDERGARTEN!! Luckily, that child was pulled and homeschooled and is a successful reader now. Most children are not given that opportunity in this "push them as fast as possible" culture. All that pushing hasn't benefited our children. We still are nowhere near the top of the list academically in the world.
A few of the countries that are at the top of the list, such as Finland, do things differently. They push playtime and recess. They don't start the children in formal schooling until age seven. Any schooling that happens at younger ages has a focus of play and exploration. And when children do have learning difficulties in school, they receive one-on-one attention from experts. It is truly a "no child left behind." And the best news is that standardized testing is minimal. The schools trust the teachers, because the teachers are highly trained, with Master's Degrees, and work in small classrooms with these children.
I find it interesting that a few of the top countries that score well academically also score in the top spots for literacy. The connection can't be missed. There are countries, such as Japan, that score well academically, but aren't in the top spot for literacy. For the most part, however, literacy is a foundational factor in doing well academically for most of these countries, and many of them don't even teach children to read until they would be in what is the equivalent to late first or second grade here in America.
Perhaps our pushing children to learn earlier and faster is backfiring and making the problem much worse. Perhaps "academic achievement" needs to be redefined, especially in the early years. Perhaps our motivation needs to change, giving that special time of childhood some respect. Perhaps we need to let brains mature naturally, instead of labeling children too early and damaging them for life. Perhaps we need to fill young children's days with activity, outside time, and adventures... ones that they physically have and ones we read to them daily. Perhaps we should stop pitting young children against each other, comparing them to each other, to see who can learn the fastest, in something that is a product of biology and brain maturation, and is out of their control.
Of course, despite the voices of many researchers stating these same things, changing a system that feeds egos and classifies people into groups is a battle that is tough to fight. I can only attempt to give my children the best I can at home, with lots of living books and time to learn at their own pace. I can only model for my children what a life full of great books looks like. I can't make them read.
Books will be present in my home. I will make trips to the library often. I will encourage reading to all, because I feel it is simply vital. To me, literacy and academics are linked as one thing. Without literacy, academics hold little meaning. Literacy allows me to learn whatever I wish to learn. The world is open to a reader. From the world of great minds to the world of the Bible, literacy provides the key to unlock great treasures. Perhaps we simply need to see the world differently to see how important books truly are.
This takes a toll on academics in a child's life. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, "In the USA, an alarming 65 percent of fourth graders in public school were reading below the proficient level in 2015."
What happens to cause children to despise reading? My theory is that reading is made to be a hard thing. It's a subject. Kids are categorized, literally grouped, by how quickly they learn to read. While there are some children that naturally pick up on reading at four, most don't. We (meaning American society and our education system) push too early. We push letters and sight words. We even push phonics too early. We make children feel as if something is wrong with them if they aren't reading by age six, seven at the latest. Surely the child must have a learning disability if they haven't broken the reading code by that age. Brain researchers have proven that boys often develop different systems more slowly than girls, making reading at early ages more difficult. The problem is actually exacerbated by being forced to sit in a classroom at earlier ages, not being able to run and move and play like they always did in the past. A child that learns to read at age eight or nine would be labeled as learning disabled in a school setting, but often they catch up quickly to the child that was reading at four or five. However, if they aren't made to feel learning disabled, they will know that their intelligence isn't lower, their brain simply matured at a different pace.
I have seen this often with my children. One daughter struggled in math for a long time. I would get frustrated and feel like I was failing her because, no matter how many times we reviewed the multiplication table, she couldn't retain. Then, one day, a light clicked. I had stopped pushing and backed up. We focused on other areas, such as addition, subtraction, fractions, etc. When we went back to multiplication, suddenly, she remembered them. She then quickly advanced, catching up to her peers in months.
The same goes for reading. My children have, for the most part, been natural readers... except one. One daughter struggled to learn to read. She was in public school, and was given an IEP. If I had known then what I know now about children's brains and learning, I would have perhaps been able to help her more effectively. I feel that the public school system made things so much worse for her. She grew to hate reading. First, the focus was on sight words. Her ADHD brain developed at a slower pace, and memorizing the large quantity of sight words was not working for her. I spent six weeks over the summer teaching her phonics, and she advanced three reading levels, but the school still insisted she had to be held back. I wish she would have had the opportunity to learn at a slower pace, repeating materials that were more simple for her, until her brain developed more fully. I wish the focus had been on reading to her, giving her a love of books and story, and letting her roam and play and be active more. But, alas, she wasn't my biological daughter. I didn't know then what I have learned in the years since. And, while I was able to assign a lot of reading in her later years when I was able to homeschool her, by then it was too late. She is not a reader now.
How many times are similar things happening to students all over the country? A niece of mine was enduring a similar situation in Kindergarten a few years back. KINDERGARTEN!! Luckily, that child was pulled and homeschooled and is a successful reader now. Most children are not given that opportunity in this "push them as fast as possible" culture. All that pushing hasn't benefited our children. We still are nowhere near the top of the list academically in the world.
A few of the countries that are at the top of the list, such as Finland, do things differently. They push playtime and recess. They don't start the children in formal schooling until age seven. Any schooling that happens at younger ages has a focus of play and exploration. And when children do have learning difficulties in school, they receive one-on-one attention from experts. It is truly a "no child left behind." And the best news is that standardized testing is minimal. The schools trust the teachers, because the teachers are highly trained, with Master's Degrees, and work in small classrooms with these children.
I find it interesting that a few of the top countries that score well academically also score in the top spots for literacy. The connection can't be missed. There are countries, such as Japan, that score well academically, but aren't in the top spot for literacy. For the most part, however, literacy is a foundational factor in doing well academically for most of these countries, and many of them don't even teach children to read until they would be in what is the equivalent to late first or second grade here in America.
Perhaps our pushing children to learn earlier and faster is backfiring and making the problem much worse. Perhaps "academic achievement" needs to be redefined, especially in the early years. Perhaps our motivation needs to change, giving that special time of childhood some respect. Perhaps we need to let brains mature naturally, instead of labeling children too early and damaging them for life. Perhaps we need to fill young children's days with activity, outside time, and adventures... ones that they physically have and ones we read to them daily. Perhaps we should stop pitting young children against each other, comparing them to each other, to see who can learn the fastest, in something that is a product of biology and brain maturation, and is out of their control.
Of course, despite the voices of many researchers stating these same things, changing a system that feeds egos and classifies people into groups is a battle that is tough to fight. I can only attempt to give my children the best I can at home, with lots of living books and time to learn at their own pace. I can only model for my children what a life full of great books looks like. I can't make them read.
Books will be present in my home. I will make trips to the library often. I will encourage reading to all, because I feel it is simply vital. To me, literacy and academics are linked as one thing. Without literacy, academics hold little meaning. Literacy allows me to learn whatever I wish to learn. The world is open to a reader. From the world of great minds to the world of the Bible, literacy provides the key to unlock great treasures. Perhaps we simply need to see the world differently to see how important books truly are.
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