Digests from the KALEIDOSCAPES MONTHLY TOPIC
(HOMESCHOOLING) DISCUSSION BOARD
These are the original digests from Kaleidoscapes' MONTHLY TOPIC discussion boards.
They were hosted by two amazing gals: Giovanna Gomez and Cerelle Woods Simmons.
The boards are no longer available (thus, links to them won't work); you can, however, still
find many of the same wonderful folks who posted on the boards at Network 54.
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Back to the Digest Index
WHY JOHNNY WON'T READ: CHOOSING BOOKS FOR YOUR HOMESCHOOLER (Part 3)
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#135: Re: television and reading (beth)
#136: some thoughts from Mary Leonhardt and students (Liz Messick)
#137: Subject Guidance (Alex)
#138: I can answer this one... (AnnaM)
#139: Re: television and reading (AnnaM)
#140: Re: and a corollary question (shirin)
#142: Re: and a corollary question (Isadora)
#144: Re: Subject Guidance (Jennifer)
#145: Re: and a corollary question (VickiC)
#146: Re: auditory learner ? ;-) (Laura)
#147: Re: television and reading (Anne Woodman)
#148: Re: Correlation/causation (K)
#149: A note about the role environment plays (Cerelle)
#150: Good point! (Cerelle)
#151: Re: auditory learner ? ;-) (Cerelle)
#152: Re: Subject Guidance (Cerelle)
#153: Re: Subject Guidance (Cerelle)
#154: Book selections for emergent readers (Cerelle)
#155: Re: Correlation/causation (Giovanna)
#156: Re: A note about the role environment plays (Liz Messick)
#157: Re: television and reading (Lisa)
#158: Re: A note about the role environment plays (Cerelle)
#160: suggestion for reluctant readers (K. B.)
#161: Reading Journal??? (Giovanna)
#162: Re: Reading Journal??? (Cerelle)
#163: read aloud suggestions needed (Pamela)
#164: Re: read aloud suggestions needed (Liz Messick)
#165: Re: read aloud suggestions needed (Cerelle)
#166: Re: read aloud suggestions needed (VickiC)
#167: Re: read aloud suggestions needed (Cerelle)
#168: Reading and writing as two sides of the coin (Luigi Torno)
#169: Re: read aloud suggestions needed (Alison)
#170: Reading Reflex (Lori)
#171: Re: Reading Reflex: We use it. (Laura)
#172: Re: Reading Journal??? (VickiC)
#173: Re: Subject Guidance (VickiC)
#176: Thank You Thank You! (Patricia)
#177: more easy-to-reads (Cerelle)
#178: Re: Thank You Thank You! (Giovanna)
#179: You've already gotten great ideas ... (beth)
#180: YES!!! We love "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out" Science.. (Amy A.)
#181: Thanks for the suggestions...(more) (Patricia)
#182: One more thought... (OK, maybe 2 or 3!) ;) (Amy A.)
#183: Re: YES!!! We love "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out" Scien (Giovanna)
#184: Reading below level (Oleta)
#185: Re: Reading below level (Liz Messick)
#186: "Bequest of Wings" (Liz Messick)
#187: Me, too! :) (Cerelle)
#188: Neither of my kids like to write (Carol in Ohio)
#189: Me Three (Laura)
#190: Spontaneous enthusiasm (Oleta)
#191: Book suggestion for her (Charlotte R.)
#192: Re: Book suggestion for her (Cerelle)
#193: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy (Kandice Sheppar)
#194: Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy (Alex)
#195: Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy (Irishmom)
#196: Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy (beth)
#198: I want to put a plug for David Adler's biography s (Giovanna)
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MESSAGE: (#135) Re: television and reading
AUTHOR: beth
DATE: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:21 p.m.
Reply To: (#134) Re: television and reading
Author: Cerelle
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 3:56 p.m.
My own comfort zone has
: stretched and contracted and stretched
: again, as we've bumped along the road into
: the future.
It's so nice to know I'm not alone with this. That's it exactly - my comfort
zone changes. Right now the weather is terrible and the boys spend most of
their time in the house. We go on very few if any field trips. Therefore, they
tend to watch more tv.
When the weather is nicer I don't have a problem with sending them outside
where they are happy to run around,ride bikes or scooters, jump on the
trampoline ...
The truth is that when they're *plugged in* they are mostly quiet and not
fighting. Hmmm ... I need to give this some more thought.
beth
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MESSAGE: (#136) some thoughts from Mary Leonhardt and students
AUTHOR: Liz Messick
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 11:32 a.m.
Reply To: (#116) television and reading
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:39 a.m.
Here are the "answers" from Mary Leonhardt's book (Parents Who Love Reading,
Kids Who Don't)! What kind of experiences did she find among her students?
(1) many of the best readers report not being very interested in television
This reminds me of a person I know, who as a child, would be watching tv with
his family, yet he'd be totally unaware of what was happening on the screen,
since he had his nose in a book the whole time! He just plain liked to read
more than he liked tv.
(2) there is no clear relationship between the amount of reading and the
amount of television watching children do
This definitely bears out my own experience. As a child in the 60s and 70s, I
watched a great deal of tv, as did my parents. I also played outside a lot,
played plenty of games, and checked out a dozen books from each of two
libraries at least once a week!
(3) a lack of television will sometimes encourage reading
This reminds me of another person I know. As a kid, he was growing up in a
house with no books, lots of tv, and a not-too-great atmosphere in general.
Then some circumstances forced him to live elsewhere for awhile, this time
with a family that hardly ever watched tv. He started reading because there
was nothing else to do!
This is also related to what I talked about having done with my own daughter,
in limiting her choices to three PBS programs a day. I hoped that she'd choose
more active pursuits, reading among them, over the passivity of tv.
(4) restricting television watching often doesn't work
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, she found out. What really seems not
to work is making the kid "turn off that tv and READ something!" That,
perhaps, makes them resent reading, see it as a chore, and makes tv all the
more alluring.
So what conclusions from this?
Do you also know people who fit into each of these categories?
Liz Messick
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MESSAGE: (#137) Subject Guidance
AUTHOR: Alex
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 12:55 p.m.
I'm new to homeschooling, and I'm wondering about something - my son reads
voraciously (newly 6), he's advanced for his age. I'm mulling over the
different philosophies of homeschooling and I'm considering this business of
guiding your child toward various reading material. My son loves to read
science fiction (Danny Dunn series, I Was a Sixth Grade Alien series, etc.),
but I'm wondering how much I should begin tossing history based fiction (and
non) at him. I'm going to try those afore-mentioned "Horrible Histories", they
sound good. However, what I'm wondering about is for those who use more of an
eclectic or "unschooling" philosophy, what if your kid isn't even broaching a
subject that the rest of the world regards as essential to a good basic
education? When should I worry? I don't want to turn reading into a control
issue at all (a point that seems to come up over many other things). And
speaking of that, that may be one of the things that causes some kids to
resist reading - knowing that their parents are so desperate for them to do
it!!! I'm interested in anyone's thoughts about these points.
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MESSAGE: (#138) I can answer this one...
AUTHOR: AnnaM
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 1:59 p.m.
Reply To: (#119) and a corollary question
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:53 a.m.
: Were you an avid reader as a child, devouring
: book after book?
: Did you watch much tv as a child?
: Did the two things relate at all, in your
: experience? I don't know if the two related. I was and still am a voracious
reader. When I get started on a book, dh knows to get his own supper (g). But,
I watched a LOT of tv as a kid. I remember spending all of Saturday in front
of the tube, watching westerns. But about half the time, I also had a book in
fromt of me at the same time.
Doesn't show any correlation. Just that maybe I'm weird! vbg
: Liz Messick
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MESSAGE: (#139) Re: television and reading
AUTHOR: AnnaM
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 2:09 p.m.
Reply To: (#135) Re: television and reading
Author: beth
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:21 p.m.
: The truth is that when they're *plugged in*
: they are mostly quiet and not fighting. Hmmm
: ... I need to give this some more thought.
But I find when my boys have been in fromt of the tv too much, or even for
just one movie, they get irritable with each other and are harder to morivate
for school, etc. We don't turn the tv on during the day at all at our house.
ONly rarely at night when the kids are in bed. Of course, we don't have cable,
and only get i channel even close to clearly. We came from 7 years overseas,
with only the American Forces network, and reruns, and no commercials, so we
were weaned that way. We watch lots of John Wayne and James Stewart movies,
and classics and musicals. Since we don't have cable, most of the stuff we get
on the network is not appropriate for our kids. We are going to my mil's this
weekend, and it will be tough, because she has the tv on almost constantly ,
just for the noise.
: beth
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MESSAGE: (#140) Re: and a corollary question
AUTHOR: shirin
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 5:07 p.m.
Reply To: (#119) and a corollary question
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:53 a.m.
Yes, I was an avid reader. So were my brother and sister. We didn't get a tv
until I and Shari were eight, and Anil was nine. We were all good readers by
then. It was a black and white, small screen and lived in my parent's bedroom.
We were allowed to watch stuff IF nobody else needed to be in the bedroom for
any reason. That pretty much limited the scope to Batman on Thursday evenings,
after school cartoons, and on Sundays, Shirley Temple because my mother liked
Shirley Temple, and Hogan's Heroes because my father liked that. When I was
12, they got a larger, color TV which lived in the family room, but by that
time nobody was in the habit of watching much.
At present I have a TV set, but it doesn't have an antennae, and since we
don't have cable, it doesn't actually RECEIVE anything. It hasn't since it was
new. (We took the antennae off pretty early.) We use it as a video player, and
have a pretty large collection. The kids like to watch vids in the evening,
and if their work is all done I don't mind. At this point they do like books
and the older one does read for pleasure. The younger one is only 3, so I am
not pushing reading quite yet.
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MESSAGE: (#142) Re: and a corollary question
AUTHOR: Isadora
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 8:10 p.m.
Reply To: (#119) and a corollary question
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:53 a.m.
: Were you an avid reader as a child, devouring
: book after book?
: Did you watch much tv as a child?
: Did the two things relate at all, in your
: experience?
: Liz Messick
The answer to both was yes. And the reasons were: I was sedentary, unathletic
and uncoordinated; I was an only child with old parents (in their 40s when I
was 3); there were few activities available for kids where I lived that would
have distracted me; I was very intellectual (nerdy) and had trouble finding
friends on my wavelength. Also, my mother's priority was cleaning the house,
so as long as I stayed out of her way, she was happy. Nobody felt too inclined
to take me any place interesting, like to a museum, so just hung around the
house reading and watching TV. Is this wholesome? Not really--life should be
lived, not obtained second-hand.
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MESSAGE: (#144) Re: Subject Guidance
AUTHOR: Jennifer
DATE: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 9:55 p.m.
Reply To: (#137) Subject Guidance
Author: Alex
Date: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 12:55 p.m.
I have been having similar questions and musings...
My kids are surrounded by books and have always enjoyed being read to. My 9 yr
old ds will read ahead in a book we're reading, but is reluctant to start a
new book on his own. He is an excellent reader, too. We are unschoolers, (with
a little structure thrown in) and I've been having this conversation with
others all month about whether he can become educated if he won't read
independently. I personally love reading to him and his younger brother, and I
get to pick out all those wonderful books I never got to growing up, but an
education doesn't come from an hour before bed at night. A friend told me that
just like some kids are into sports, some are into reading, and for me not to
worry. (Easy for her to say!)
Then again, he studies his Primo guides for PlayStation or Gameboy, will read
the paper if an intersting article catches his eye, and he learns so much from
field trips and shows on PBS (Nova is the best!).
So, how much of my worrying stems my own love of reading and my ideas of what
is the right way to learn?
Should I worry that I worry about everything? Oh, yeah, I'm a mom, that's part
of the job description, right ? :-)
Jennifer
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MESSAGE: (#145) Re: and a corollary question
AUTHOR: VickiC
DATE: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 3:43 p.m.
Reply To: (#119) and a corollary question
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:53 a.m.
: Did the two things relate at all, in your
: experience?
We were the first family on our block to get a TV. That was in 1953. I loved
Kookla, Fran and Ollie, Red Skelton and all that other stuff. Most of what was
available--and even back then, we had something like nine stations to choose
from in the Los Angeles area--was quite tame.
But my favorite TV entertainment was the old movies like Jane Eyre,
Frankenstein, Joan of Arc, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. That's the stuff I
choose to read as well. Too, the encyclopedias sat close to the TV and my
guess is TV watching triggered my picking up a volume as much as anything
else.
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MESSAGE: (#146) Re: auditory learner ? ;-)
AUTHOR: Laura
DATE: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 5:59 p.m.
Reply To: (#90) Re: auditory learner ? ;-)
Author: shirin
Date: Friday, 9 February 2001, at 3:56 p.m.
:Didn't purposely ignore you! We went on vacation this last couple of weeks.
She is pretty good with phonetic decoding. I have been using Reading Reflex
with my younger two and on the placement test she made only two mistakes. She
does often have trouble with really long multisyllabic words. It is more like
she gets lost in them. The ends of the words sometimes end up in the middle
and then themiddle goes to the end. When I slow her down she usually gets it
right. She does also have a little trouble with open and closed syllables. She
is really improving with this. She is also guilty of guessing at words. But,
again, when I slow her down she gets it right on the first try. She basically
just reads too fast when making these mistakes. As far as reading level, she
can literally read anything. This year, we have share read (from the top of my
head) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, The Cat Who went to Heaven, Magic Tree House
books, Heidi, several American Girls books, some of the Boxcar Children,
Goosebumps, and are currently on From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankwiler. She can handle 5th grade level text fairly easily. I have also
used a 5th grade reading book I enjoyed when I was younger just for pleasure.
She can read the selections alone and answer all the comprehension questions.
Her spelling mistakes are mostly phonetic. She also very consistantly confuses
b,d,p in her spelling. She doesn't seem to have trouble when reading with
these letters unless the word makes sense with one of the others in it's place
or it is in total isolation and has two possabilities. (bog or dog or pog in
context isn't a problem) Nonsense words she can handle except the b/d and less
often p sounds. She also has trouble with short i and e; but, we live in the
deep south where this is considered to be a phonetic problem:) Those people
who invented the spelling just say it incorrectly! She also sometimes just
puts the letters in the wrong places in the words. She can practice and
practice with spelling and finally learn the right way. A week later she
cannot spell it correctly.
Sample of spelling...I wint to the deahc this weke. I foub a sharc in the
oshun. I also foud lost of shels. I hab a relly goob tiem. Writing for her
almost seems painful. She can narrate stories to me that are absolutely
phenominal. People I have shared the with cannot believe an 8yo can possibly
have come up with them. But, if asked to do it on her own, what is above is
exceptional. She usually cannot get more than two thoughts down. Of course, it
is hard for me to keep up with her. I don't see how she could keep up with
herself! She thinks far too fast.
How exactly is she reading? By sight words or
: by phonics? Can she decode phonetically
: correct nonsense words like TLICK or SQILL?
: My feeling, given that she obviously has the
: attention span to sit still for a long
: period of time, the language skills to enjoy
: a written book, and given that she learned
: to read early with fluency, is that she is
: reading by sight word memorization. Usually
: very early readers memorize words. Those who
: have no other issues, then progress to
: recognizing part-words, e.g. "ACK"
: or "IGHT", and move easily from
: there into decoding, with or without
: instruction. Those who have trouble get
: stuck on recognizing subsets. (Plenty of
: people read by part-word recognition rather
: than true decoding, but they can handle
: reading and spelling, so this probably isn't
: where your child's bottleneck is located.)
: Sight word recognition works very well up
: through about third grade. At that point the
: number of unknown words becomes overwhelming
: if you cannot decode effectively and the
: reader begins to develop a distaste for
: books.
: Also, you say she is a poor speller. In what
: way does she spell poorly? Are her errors
: basically phonetic, e.g. "hows"
: for "house", and "parck"
: for "park", or are they
: linguistic/word length type guesses, e.g.
: "hotel" for "house" and
: "prak" for "park"?
: Please write back addressing these issues
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MESSAGE: (#147) Re: television and reading
AUTHOR: Anne Woodman
DATE: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 8:01 p.m.
Reply To: (#116) television and reading
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:39 a.m.
Every year when school got out I would overdose on TV, but switch to books
later in the summer when I felt I had recuperated from the school year. All of
the kids in our family watched as much TV as we wanted when my mom went back
to work, and we all read. Well except my youngest brother, but the jury is
still out on him because he has to read so much for college classes I think he
is a little burned out.
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MESSAGE: (#148) Re: Correlation/causation
AUTHOR: K
DATE: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 11:53 p.m.
Reply To: (#118) Re: television and reading
Author: Giovanna
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:53 a.m.
: Go ahead! I'm ready! :) I would LOVE to have
: someone show me the correlations (if there
: are any) or some evidences that one thing
: has nothing to do with the other.
Sorry, this thread (I've read all of it, don't mean to pick on your post) has
hit on a sticking point for me. I agree with your hypothesis that limited TV
and high levels of reading are positively correlated (that is why I do not
subscribe to cable and give the kiddos the $$ we save). HOWEVER, correlation
does not prove causation. Example: Whenever I see many people carrying
umbrellas, there are many more accidents on our area highways. It is fairly
obvious that umbrella carrying does not result in accidents. Factor A can be
used to predict factor B but does not cause it. It is possible that
televiewing/lack of reading are similarly linked. They may occur
simultaneously without either being causal.
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MESSAGE: (#149) A note about the role environment plays
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 11:59 p.m.
Reply To: (#145) Re: and a corollary question
Author: VickiC
Date: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 3:43 p.m.
: Too, the
: encyclopedias sat close to the TV and my
: guess is TV watching triggered my picking up
: a volume as much as anything else.
Ha! You know, I think you've hit on something important there. Talk about
environmental influence! I love this picture you've painted -- a home in which
the encyclopedia set lived happily alongside the television set, both in use
and each complementing the other. :)
I'm led to wonder if the "TV monster" is made automatically less monstrous
when shares space with its rivals (books, music, magazines, games,
conversation pits, etc.). In a rich environment, a television is just one of a
variety of entertainment and information providers.
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#150) Good point!
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 12:10 a.m.
Reply To: (#148) Re: Correlation/causation
Author: K
Date: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 11:53 p.m.
Thanks, K, for reminding us all to be cautious about the conclusions we draw
(or jump to, as the case may be). The enormous number of variables in our
homes and childhood experiences makes it difficult to determine the absolute
cause of any one phenomenon, which is one reason I often feel a little queasy
about promoting a particular homeschooling style or philosophy -- even if it
worked well for me and my kids!
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#151) Re: auditory learner ? ;-)
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 12:43 a.m.
Reply To: (#146) Re: auditory learner ? ;-)
Author: Laura
Date: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 5:59 p.m.
Laura, my oldest was an excellent reader who couldn't spell worth a darn
(considering how much and how easily she read). Like you, I might have
suspected dyslexia -- except that she obviously had NO problem reading.
All I can tell you is that her spelling continued to improve as the years went
by. I allowed her to write on her own terms, and although she MUCH preferred
to dictate her stories and poems in her earlier years, she wrote prolifically
by adolescence and is an outstanding writer today.
My youngest (15) still hates to write anything by hand, but on a keyboard,
he's faster than lightning!
What I *think* I've learned from homeschooling 3 kids all these years is that
children don't always progress uniformly across the curriculum. Their
development is HIGHLY individual, and at least to some extent, what we do
doesn't matter as much as expect it to.
Because my daughter read so well at an early age, I expected all her other
related language skills, like spelling and handwriting (if handwriting can
even be called a language skill -- I have severe doubt about that) to be
commensurate. The fact that they weren't used to cause me great concern. Now
that she's excelling at a very competitive college (due in large part to her
terrific language skills), I feel silly for having worried as much as I did.
Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to accept the difficulties she has
with writing right now and continue to encourage her to compose and dictate.
Above all, it would be a shame, I think, if she came to associate Writing
(capital W) with misery and pain. Meanwhile, it's wonderful that she enjoys
books so much and that you are willing and eager to keep reading aloud to her!
Sounds to me like you're doing everything right. :)
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#152) Re: Subject Guidance
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 1:11 a.m.
Reply To: (#144) Re: Subject Guidance
Author: Jennifer
Date: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 9:55 p.m.
: Should I worry that I worry about everything?
: Oh, yeah, I'm a mom, that's part of the job
: description, right ? :-)
ROTFL! That's right! It's an occupational hazard, all right.
It's true that kids who read voraciously on their own seem to pick up arcane
knowledge from the air they breathe. But you know, even the parents of those
kids manage to find things to worry about. ;-)
You mentioned that your son will read newspaper articles that appeal to him,
which made me wonder if magazine articles might be a good transition into
books. Do you subscribe to plenty of magazines in his areas of interest? Or
does your library allow check-outs of past issues? I'm a huge believer in
subscribing to wide variety of good magazines -- as many as the family's
budget will allow. There's a world of information between the covers of nearly
every issue, and if it's left lying around (preferably open to something
appealing) where the kids will trip over it on their way to do something else,
they'll often stop long enough to read. :)
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#153) Re: Subject Guidance
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 1:24 a.m.
Reply To: (#137) Subject Guidance
Author: Alex
Date: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 12:55 p.m.
A 6-year-old voracious reader is a homeschooling parent's dream come true --
you DO realize that, don't you? :) In my experience, kids like that just need
us to get out of their way! I couldn't agree more with your reluctance to let
reading selection turn into a control issue. You sound to me like a wise, wise
woman.
If you simply can't stop yourself from trying to nudge him toward certain
books or subjects (I couldn't always stop myself, either), you might try
something that worked well in our family. We had a 1-chapter rule that applied
when I was DYING for one of my kids to give a particular book a chance. (This
usually came up either because I loved the book with all my heart and thought
they would, too, or because I was anxious to try to "balance the curriculum".)
If they read the first chapter and didn't like it enough to read the rest of
the book, I agreed to back off on promoting that book for a while.
Of course, if they read the first chapter and liked it so much they kept
going, everyone was happy! :)
My 15yo ds now applies the 1-chapter rule to ME these days: "I really think
you would LOVE this book, Mama. Here, I'm putting it next to your side of the
bed. Just read the first chapter, OK?" LOL!
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#154) Book selections for emergent readers
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 1:49 a.m.
Liz, I keep meaning to chime in on your enthusiasm for Mary Leonhardt's books
and philosophy. I think she's wonderful! Her "Keeping Kids Reading" site is
first rate, and she has a great collection of links to many other helpful
sites about kids and reading (and writing).
Here are a couple of other good sites that I often recommend to fellow
homeschoolers whose young children are just beginning to read on their own:
First Books for Emergent Readers (article by Carol Otis Hurst)
http://www.carolhurst.com/profsubjects/reading/emergentreaders.html
Books for Beginning Readers: A Bibliography of Trade Books for Young Children,
selected by Margaret Jensen
http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/jensen.htm
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#155) Re: Correlation/causation
AUTHOR: Giovanna
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 8:19 a.m.
Reply To: (#148) Re: Correlation/causation
Author: K
Date: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 11:53 p.m.
: Sorry, this thread (I've read all of it, don't
: mean to pick on your post) has hit on a
: sticking point for me. I agree with your
: hypothesis that limited TV and high levels
: of reading are positively correlated (that
: is why I do not subscribe to cable and give
: the kiddos the $$ we save). HOWEVER,
: correlation does not prove causation.
Well, of course! You are totally right. This is all hypothesis....just our
"unscientific" theories for the sake of discussion. Actually, I'm not even
sure if anyone has ever set out to prove that tv watching is correlated with
reading (or not reading). Does anyone know if any research has been done or a
scientific study?
Giovanna
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MESSAGE: (#156) Re: A note about the role environment plays
AUTHOR: Liz Messick
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 9:31 a.m.
Reply To: (#149) A note about the role environment plays
Author: Cerelle
Date: Saturday, 17 February 2001, at 11:59 p.m.
Good point!
Much to my children's (and husband's) dismay, I insist on NOT putting the tv
in the living room. Instead, it's in the playroom -- and there is no furniture
to sit on in the playroom!
There ARE shelves with puzzles and games, some books, a climbing
structure/playhouse, cardboard building "bricks", and a big floor full of open
space. My only concession to making tv comfortable at all is having beanbag
chairs that can be dragged in front of the tv.
But the 8yo spends a lot of her tv time hanging on the Quadro, and all the
kids tend to pull down board games or make stuff with kapla blocks instead of
just staring at the tv.
Of course, the older two do a great deal of their tv watching with notebooks
and math books open in front of them. Whether any math gets done, or whether
this is just to give the APPEARANCE of working remains to be seen!
Liz
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#157) Re: television and reading
AUTHOR: Lisa
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 12:10 p.m.
Reply To: (#116) television and reading
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Thursday, 15 February 2001, at 9:39 a.m.
: My concern with TV and video games doesn't only have to do with reading. We
limit TV to FRiday night and some on weekends only and we do not have nintendo
or the like. (OK< we love the Sims!) And believe me, my two boys (ages 8 and
10) love both TV and video games. However, I am convinced that without the
option of plugging in they are more active thinkers and more creative with
their play time. There is never a time when they are bored although I can
honestly say that only my 10 year old will pick up a book for pleasure. I
think he will continue to do this more and more. The boys build, create games,
draw, make tents, invent things, cook and listen to music. They are
interactive with each other, me, and other family and friends. It sometimes
makes me sad when they have friends over who can't find anything to do without
TV or video games. It makes me glad we do things differently. Just my opinion.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#158) Re: A note about the role environment plays
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 12:40 p.m.
Reply To: (#156) Re: A note about the role environment plays
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 9:31 a.m.
: Much to my children's (and husband's) dismay, I
: insist on NOT putting the tv in the living
: room. Instead, it's in the playroom --
Well, at least you didn't banish it to the guest house, which is what a friend
of mine once did. Ha! (Her husband wasn't the least bit amused.)
I am one of those who usually HAS to be doing something else while I watch TV,
or else I feel too passive for words. I might make an exception if I'm
dog-tired, super-stressed, or deathly ill -- or if the program is unusually
riveting -- but ordinarily, I'm the one sitting on the sofa with her nose in a
book while everyone else watches the tube. ;-)
Cerelle
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#160) suggestion for reluctant readers
AUTHOR: K. B.
DATE: Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 11:17 p.m.
My daughter struggled learning to read. This year, (she's 10), we finally had
her eyes tested. She's farsighted! The doctor said that although she can see
the words on the page, it would be enough of a strain that reading would not
be enjoyable. With her new glasses, her reading has improved significantly,
and now I even catch her with a book in bed after the lights are supposed to
be out. So, I just wanted to encourage any of you to have your child's eyes
tested if they are having difficulty or are reluctant readers. I can't believe
we didn't think of this sooner.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#161) Reading Journal???
AUTHOR: Giovanna
DATE: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:25 a.m.
Do your children keep book or reading journals? If so, what do they include in
it?
Giovanna
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#162) Re: Reading Journal???
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:43 a.m.
Reply To: (#161) Reading Journal???
Author: Giovanna
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:25 a.m.
When my kids were very young, I did most of the recordkeeping myself and kept
track (or *tried* to keep track) of what they read. As they got older, I
encouraged them to do more and more of this kind of thing for themselves. By
the time they hit adolescence, they were responsible for keeping their own
reading logs.
How they did it and what they included was left up to them.
Ariel used a ledger format and included the title, author's name, date she
read the book/story/play/etc., and a brief opinion of the work. Laurel used
the back pages of her regular journals to jot down titles of what she was
reading. As for Hunter...well...ha! What can I say? I still try to remember to
keep track of what he's reading, because chances are good that he's forgetting
to do it himself, most of the time. (Every child is different. ;-) )
Or maybe what we're really witnessing here is the relentless toll of entropy
in the life of one homeschooling family. LOL!
Cerelle
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: Pamela
DATE: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
I'm looking for read-aloud suggestions for an 8 yo girl with very different
taste from her mother's (that's me!). At that age, books I enjoyed included
Little Women, Secret Garden, Little Princess & Black Beauty. All of which get
a resounding YUCK! from dd.
Things she has liked - The Hobbit & The Ring Trilogy, Elfquest (elaborate
comic books), TinTin & P.G. Wodehouse short stories. Basically, comedy &
adventure with no 'sentimental' stuff.
No tear-jerkers and anything about orphans, or mothers dying is right out.
Thanks!
Pamela
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#164) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: Liz Messick
DATE: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 11:13 p.m.
Reply To: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Pamela
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
Pamela,
Suzy really liked the Edward Eager books - they're all about groups of kids,
siblings, usually, who encounter some kind of magic.
Half Magic - the magic only does half what you want it to, so you might not be
completely invisible, for example, but more, sort of see-through, like a ghost
Magic by the Lake - the kids are staying in a summer cottage, and the lake
itself is magic, and takes them adventuring
There are also other titles - (can't remember them all offhand....)
Magic or Not?
Knight's Castle
The Time Garden - this one is neat - the garden has a magic herb, the THYME,
that takes them to different TIMES! They visit the Little Women, actually the
real Alcott sisters, and become part of the story for a little while, for
example.
One extra-neat thing is that the kids in some of the books grow up to be the
parents in some of the later books, and during the time-travel, the kids meet
the parents while both are kids on a magic adventure, and this shows up from
both the parents' perspective and the kids' perspective.
Liz Messick
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#165) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 12:09 a.m.
Reply To: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Pamela
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
Hi, Pamela!
Liz's recommendation of Edward Eager (with which I heartily concur) reminded
me of how much my kids also loved Edith Nesbit's books as read-alouds. I ended
up reading Five Children and It aloud twice -- the first time to my daughters
and again, years later, to my son. I have to say I enjoyed it just as much the
second time around.
Edward Eager was a fan of E. Nesbit, whose fantasy novels for children are
wonderfully Victorian and descriptive, with rich details, delightful humor,
and worlds of magic!
Cerelle
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#166) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: VickiC
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 12:17 a.m.
Reply To: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Pamela
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
Narnia series, Redwall series (kind of exhausting but if she can handle
Hobbit...), Harry Potter series, books by Lloyd Alexander, The Goblins in the
Castle
My favorite read alouds just for the humor: Skinnybones (Parks) and The Great
Brain (Fitz-something)
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#167) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 2:18 a.m.
Reply To: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Pamela
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
I just thought of one more! Have you read A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers
Anthony? This is the first book in his Xanth fantasy series, and IMO the best.
The puns and wordplay are hilarious! I wouldn't ordinarily recommend it for an
8-year-old, but if the vocabulary in P. G. Wodehouse's stuff doesn't boggle
her, she should be able to handle Piers Anthony just fine.
Cerelle
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#168) Reading and writing as two sides of the coin
AUTHOR: Luigi Torno
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 6:46 a.m.
I've been amazed how much reading my kids have been doing (voluntarily!) when
they wanted to continue the online stories I found. I think it has something
to do with the motivation of having their versions published on the web. My
point is that even though the aim was creative writing, the side benefit
turned out to be reading.
The site I found is:
www.beaumont-publishing.com/efl/chainstories.htm
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#169) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
AUTHOR: Alison
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 2:04 p.m.
Reply To: (#164) Re: read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 11:13 p.m.
: Ella Enchanted.I think by Gail Carson Levine. My Fathers Dragon by Ruth
Gannett (3 book series-probably she could read these herself)
I second the motion for Harry Potter,and Narnia
Roald Dahl books -any of them. Witches, Matilda, Vicar of Nibbleswich, Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox...
Also, Jim Trealease's Read Aloud Handbook will give you lots of good
suggestions. Most libraries have it.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#170) Reading Reflex
AUTHOR: Lori
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 5:00 p.m.
Hi, I hope this is appropriate for this post. I am new to HS this year and my
11 yr old ds is a bit behind in his reading and comprehension. I've noticed
that he has trouble actually sounding out difficult words and sometimes even
simple words. Because of his "hate" for experiences in PS with testing,
evaluations, testing, probing, testing... he is VERY reluctant to be tutored
in any area. Therefore, I have been reading up on the subject myself and have
recently discovered the Reading Reflex (Phono Graphix) books. Has anyone tried
this method or heard anything about it? Thanks in advance!
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#171) Re: Reading Reflex: We use it.
AUTHOR: Laura
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 5:20 p.m.
Reply To: (#170) Reading Reflex
Author: Lori
Date: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 5:00 p.m.
:It is a good program and it is cheap. There is a placement test at the
beginning of the book. It will give you a good idea of where to start. Not
much to lose by trying it.
Hi, I hope this is appropriate for this post. I
: am new to HS this year and my 11 yr old ds
: is a bit behind in his reading and
: comprehension. I've noticed that he has
: trouble actually sounding out difficult
: words and sometimes even simple words.
: Because of his "hate" for
: experiences in PS with testing, evaluations,
: testing, probing, testing... he is VERY
: reluctant to be tutored in any area.
: Therefore, I have been reading up on the
: subject myself and have recently discovered
: the Reading Reflex (Phono Graphix) books.
: Has anyone tried this method or heard
: anything about it? Thanks in advance!
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#172) Re: Reading Journal???
AUTHOR: VickiC
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 8:13 p.m.
Reply To: (#161) Reading Journal???
Author: Giovanna
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:25 a.m.
My kids (meaning 4th-5th grqde students here)kept reading journals in spiral
notebooks. The back page (pasted inside back cover) was a record to include
date, book title and pages read that day (supposedly). I had kids keep that
page updated daily.
Two to three days a week kids just summarized their reading for the day. The
rest of the week kids completed a response to their reading that helped me to
keep track of comprehension (of fiction reading). Since I was the inclusionary
teacher for my grade level, I had a large number of kids reading a year to
three years below grade level and a large group reading years beyond grade
level. This made it quite easy to allow every child to respond to what he was
reading whether it was Frog and Toad Together, Hatchet or Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea.
Kids usually answered one of two or three questions posted that day. This is
off the top of my head but close to some of what I did:
(Characterization, drawing conclusions, inference)
*Describe your favorite character. What is it you like about him?
* least favorite--dislike about him
* Do a Venn diagram comparing/contrasting you (a friend, etc) and one of the
main characters.
* Imagine (list event) happened to the main character. How do you imagine he
would react and why?
*Make a T chart. On one side tell about (#) events or situations in the story.
On the other side, tell what this tells you about the person. (character
traits)
(Setting)
*Create a map that includes places found in your story. Label places with
events that occurred there.
*Write down (#) clues the author gives you as to the time and place in which
your story is taking place.
(Sequence of events, main idea, summarizing)
*Create a five picture comic strip that shows what your book is about.
*What problem is the story trying to solve?
(Cause and effect, prediction)
Draw three boxes. In the second box, tell me about one of the major events
taking place in your story at this time. In the first box, tell me what caused
the event. In the third box, tell me what you think will happen as a result
and why.
(genre)
*what genre of fiction are you reading? List (#) of clues from the story that
support your answer.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#173) Re: Subject Guidance
AUTHOR: VickiC
DATE: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 8:33 p.m.
Reply To: (#137) Subject Guidance
Author: Alex
Date: Friday, 16 February 2001, at 12:55 p.m.
I used to do this once a year with my school kids. Everyone had to bring a
favorite book and read their favorite passage. Will never forget a little
girl, on the verge of tears, reading an agonizing passage from the Slave
Dancer.
Those book shares always resulted in other kids having to get those books into
their hands.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#176) Thank You Thank You!
AUTHOR: Patricia
DATE: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
A few nights ago I went to the Barnes and Noble and picked up the first Magic
Treehouse book to read to my 4-1/2 year old daughter. Well, I decided to read
a chapter per day just because I didn't want her to lose interest. I try to
approach things slowly for fear of messing up! Well, she absolutely refused to
go to sleep until she heard the ending and my 2 year old daughter was
fascinated by the story too--asking to be read the "dinodor book" again and
again! Thanks for the suggestion. This is a great topic! Any more fantasy
books appealing to this age group? Also, We're doing some Five in a Row unit
studies and I'm looking for geography books (fiction or non) to use on Social
Studies day. I would like for these to be juvenile and fun so as to keep my
daughter interested. Any suggestions?
Oh! My daughter is a beginning reader too and she's bored with the Bob books.
She has gone through the DK Pat the Cat books too (she really liked these).
Where should I go from there?
TIA, Patricia
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#177) more easy-to-reads
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 11:03 p.m.
Reply To: (#176) Thank You Thank You!
Author: Patricia
Date: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
Our family's favorite easy readers included:
Nate the Great (series), by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Oliver and Amanda Pig (series), by Jean Van Leeuwen
Frog and Toad (series), by Arnold Lobel
The Case of the Dumbells, by Crosby Bonsall
The Golly Sisters Go West, by Betsy Byars
If these are too advanced, try the easy-easy-EASY books by Margaret Hillert.
(Modern Curriculum Press Beginning to Read Series) These border on "Dick and
Jane," in terms of stilted sentences and very limited vocabulary, but they're
good confidence builders for emergent readers. Since many of them are based on
familiar fairy tales, the kids usually already know the story behind the
extremely simple text.
Cerelle
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#178) Re: Thank You Thank You!
AUTHOR: Giovanna
DATE: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 8:38 a.m.
Reply To: (#176) Thank You Thank You!
Author: Patricia
Date: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
: Thanks for the suggestion. This is a great
: topic! Any more fantasy books appealing to
: this age group? Also, We're doing some Five
: in a Row unit studies and I'm looking for
: geography books (fiction or non) to use on
: Social Studies day. I would like for these
: to be juvenile and fun so as to keep my
: daughter interested. Any suggestions?
I don't have any suggestions for Social Studies type of books right off the
top of my head right now but I have a science suggestion!
My kids really, REALLY enjoyed (still do) the LET'S READ AND FIND OUT Science
series. There are tons of great topics and they come in "stages". Stage 1 is
the simplest, Stage 2 is a little more challenging and Stage 3 is the more
complex one. The kids would pick these for me to read aloud on many, many
ocassions. Now they often pick those and read them to themselves.
Greenleaf Press sells these. You might find them at Barnes and Noble too. I
know my public library carries a few of them.
Go here to see them at Greenleaf Press
http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/27-Harper%20Science/page125%20-%202000.htm
: Oh! My daughter is a beginning reader too and
: she's bored with the Bob books. She has gone
: through the DK Pat the Cat books too (she
: really liked these). Where should I go from
: there?
You know what both of my kids read aloud after they were "done" with the BOB
BOOKS? Those "Bright and Early books for BEGINNING Beginners".
The Nose Book by Al Perkins
Bears on Wheels by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss
I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael Frith
There is a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss
These would definitely be at your public library.
Giovanna
Link: Let's Read and Find Out Science Series at Greenleaf Press
URL:
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#179) You've already gotten great ideas ...
AUTHOR: beth
DATE: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 12:19 p.m.
Reply To: (#176) Thank You Thank You!
Author: Patricia
Date: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
Our favorite beginning reader books right after the Bob books were the Puffin
Easy Readers. We especially liked the fairy tale ones written by Harriet
Ziefert - The Red Hen, The Porridge Pot, The Gingerbread Man.
HTH Beth
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#180) YES!!! We love "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out" Science..
AUTHOR: Amy A.
DATE: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 4:15 p.m.
Reply To: (#178) Re: Thank You Thank You!
Author: Giovanna
Date: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 8:38 a.m.
Stage 1 is the
: simplest, Stage 2 is a little more
: challenging and Stage 3 is the more complex
: one.
We have tons of Stage 1 and 2, and have read most of the series that our
library owns (and a bunch from interlibrary loan, too LOL!) These books are
wonderful - they cover a broad range of science topics and are often funny,
too. Our favorite is "Germs Make Me Sick" by Melvin Berger
I hadn't seen or heard about Stage 3, though... a new quest begins! Thanks,
Giovanna!
By the way, we love most of those Dr. Seuss books you listed too; our kids
must have similar tastes (or mothers with similar tastes :) )
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#181) Thanks for the suggestions...(more)
AUTHOR: Patricia
DATE: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 7:39 p.m.
Reply To: (#176) Thank You Thank You!
Author: Patricia
Date: Thursday, 22 February 2001, at 10:44 p.m.
:I'm looking forward to getting my daughter the books you've all suggested.
On another note, I decided to research some Geography/Social Studies books for
the 4-8 age group on Amazon. What I found sounded really great. Apparently,
there are a number of appropriate series for children--who knew! One series is
called Colors of the World. These tell basic info on a number of countries and
teach the names of colors in the native language of the country in question.
Another was called the Counting Your Way through...series. This one also gives
basic info and teaches how to count to 10 in a foreign language. Last but not
least I found some What Came From.....? books which, as the titles suggest,
introduce foreign countries to children through common things that were once
manufactured or once originally created in the country in question. Hmmm... I
never thought I'd find out so much from a search on Amazon. I only hope that
they're worth it!
Thanks again!
Patricia
A few nights ago I went to the Barnes and Noble
: and picked up the first Magic Treehouse book
: to read to my 4-1/2 year old daughter. Well,
: I decided to read a chapter per day just
: because I didn't want her to lose interest.
: I try to approach things slowly for fear of
: messing up! Well, she absolutely refused to
: go to sleep until she heard the ending and
: my 2 year old daughter was fascinated by the
: story too--asking to be read the
: "dinodor book" again and again!
: Thanks for the suggestion. This is a great
: topic! Any more fantasy books appealing to
: this age group? Also, We're doing some Five
: in a Row unit studies and I'm looking for
: geography books (fiction or non) to use on
: Social Studies day. I would like for these
: to be juvenile and fun so as to keep my
: daughter interested. Any suggestions?
: Oh! My daughter is a beginning reader too and
: she's bored with the Bob books. She has gone
: through the DK Pat the Cat books too (she
: really liked these). Where should I go from
: there?
: TIA, Patricia
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#182) One more thought... (OK, maybe 2 or 3!) ;)
AUTHOR: Amy A.
DATE: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 9:26 p.m.
Reply To: (#181) Thanks for the suggestions...(more)
Author: Patricia
Date: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 7:39 p.m.
Hmmm... I never thought I'd find
: out so much from a search on Amazon. I only
: hope that they're worth it!
I've been a happy Amazon.com customer for a while, but it can be an expensive
habit. :)
What I often do is research topics on Amazon and save titles and authors to a
WordPerfect list which I then take to the library! This way I get a preview,
and anything we love (and have to renew three times) we often end up buying at
some point. This is especially helpful to me, as I sometimes find their
recommended age ranges a little "off". ;)
One more thing I wanted to post earlier (but was too busy cleaning up toddler
vomit LOL) was a few of our favorite geography books: "How To Make An Apple
Pie And See The World" by Marjorie Priceman, and "Somewhere In The World Right
Now" by Stacey Schuett. You can check out descriptions at Amazon LOL!
We also end up branching off into more specific topics depending which Magic
Tree House book is dd's favorite at the time. "Vacation Under The Volcano"
(#13) has inspired a LONG run of obsession with volcanoes and Ancient Rome :)
Happy Reading!
P.S. Do you belong to Scholastic Book Clubs? Homeschoolers are considered a
school, and they have great deals and bonus points and neat reference books...
(yes, I need Scholastic Addicts Anonymous!!)
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#183) Re: YES!!! We love "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out" Scien
AUTHOR: Giovanna
DATE: Saturday, 24 February 2001, at 6:49 p.m.
Reply To: (#180) YES!!! We love "Let's-Read-And-Find-Out" Science..
Author: Amy A.
Date: Friday, 23 February 2001, at 4:15 p.m.
: I hadn't seen or heard about Stage 3, though...
: a new quest begins! Thanks, Giovanna!
I haven't seen hardly any of the stage 3. I've seen maybe two. You may have a
hard time finding them. Greenleaf Press doesn't sell Stage 3 either.
Giovanna
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#184) Reading below level
AUTHOR: Oleta
DATE: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 2:02 p.m.
I recently read about a young man (homeschooler) who uses children's books
when doing research. This makes easy reading of basic facts to get an overview
of a subject. I though that was a pretty good idea. And (bonus!) now I'm not
even concerned when my daughter says she wants to go back and read all the
books I got her a couple years ago that she wasn't interested in. Boy, she
plows right through them and remembers all the facts because it's an easy
read. I have also heard her read very advanced material if it's a subject that
intriques her.
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#185) Re: Reading below level
AUTHOR: Liz Messick
DATE: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 4:16 p.m.
Reply To: (#184) Reading below level
Author: Oleta
Date: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 2:02 p.m.
The first place *I* go as an adult when I want information on a new subject is
to children's books!
I wish I had known (or thought) to do this as a college student, or even as a
high school student. But it didn't even cross my mind to, for example, read a
children's Shakespeare adaptation before studying a new play, or to brush up
on the basic facts of some area of science before tackling the textbook.
I remember being very self-righteous about even such things as Cliff's Notes,
seeing them as "cheating," and refusing to look at them. It seems so silly
now!
Liz Messick
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#186) "Bequest of Wings"
AUTHOR: Liz Messick
DATE: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 4:29 p.m.
I couldn't resist the opportunity to post about two of my very favorite
books-about-books:
Bequest of Wings: A Family's Pleasures With Books
and its sequel:
Longer Flight: A Family Grows Up with Books.
Has anybody else read these? Here's an excerpt from the first chapter of
Bequest of Wings:
"It fell to my lot, in a fashion, to set the key with our first baby. As
happens in most families, most of her waking hours were spent with me; and
that was how books came to play so large a part in our family life. For books
were the one thing I really knew about. Ever since my early high-school days,
work with books and children was what I most wanted to do. And that was
because in my own childhood, as far back as I could remember, books had shed a
glow of delight on everything I did. Here, then, was an ex-librarian and
bookseller, using the things she knew best, as a sort of springboard into all
the other things she knew her firstborn must learn.
It wasn't at all a studied method. I do not remember that I was ever very much
aware of how extensive and diverse a use I was making of books. All that
mattered was that there was security, and the most wonderful fun, in knowing
rhymes and poems and little stories that always seemed to be just right for
every mood and every stage of our baby's understanding. As we moved along
through the first and second and third years, finding fresh delight every day
in the books we'd begun to read together, as well as the old poems and stories
that came as spontaneously as if I were making them up as I went along, I knew
I'd stumbled on something that was going to mean a great deal to our family."
Liz Messick
***************************************************************************
MESSAGE: (#187) Me, too! :)
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 4:46 p.m.
Reply To: (#185) Re: Reading below level
Author: Liz Messick
Date: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 4:16 p.m.
: The first place *I* go as an adult when I want
: information on a new subject is to
: children's books!
Me, too! Me, too! I didn't discover this rich source of basic, skeletal
information until I started homeschooling. For years, I've joked that those
children's books about science and history are right on my level. ;)
: I remember being very self-righteous about even
: such things as Cliff's Notes, seeing them as
: "cheating," and refusing to look
: at them. It seems so silly now!
Yep! I never knew that Cliffs Notes were supposed to be used as "study guides"
-- I thought they were just "cheats," and I had never looked at one until a
few years ago. They're really pretty handy, a good way to make sure you don't
overlook the major points of a particular work. Who knew? I *treasure* our
Cliffs Math Review for Standardized Tests. It remains my number-one reference
for all things mathematical.
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#188) Neither of my kids like to write
AUTHOR: Carol in Ohio
DATE: Monday, 26 February 2001, at 4:11 p.m.
Reply To: (#168) Reading and writing as two sides of the coin
Author: Luigi Torno
Date: Tuesday, 20 February 2001, at 6:46 a.m.
but I wouldn't be surprised if they would like to do this. Thanks for sharing
the site.
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MESSAGE: (#189) Me Three
AUTHOR: Laura
DATE: Monday, 26 February 2001, at 9:46 p.m.
Reply To: (#187) Me, too! :)
Author: Cerelle
Date: Sunday, 25 February 2001, at 4:46 p.m.
Ditto, Ditto
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MESSAGE: (#190) Spontaneous enthusiasm
AUTHOR: Oleta
DATE: Monday, 26 February 2001, at 10:38 p.m.
My daughter and another homeschooled friend have just started reading "The
Count of Montecristo" (only she calls it The Count of Monte Carlo) to each
other, aloud. Their own idea! They do it with the door shut, like it's a club
secret. I love it!
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MESSAGE: (#191) Book suggestion for her
AUTHOR: Charlotte R.
DATE: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 12:13 a.m.
Reply To: (#163) read aloud suggestions needed
Author: Pamela
Date: Monday, 19 February 2001, at 10:27 p.m.
If she liked the Hobbit here is a suggestion. Susan Fletcher (not sure on that
spelling) Her Dragon Chronicles- the titles are Dragon's Milk, Flight of the
Dragon Kyn, and Sign of the Dove
All are good reads and have a girl as the main character. My daughters love
these books.
and she might enjoy A Wrinkle in Time and the books that followed it, the Arm
of the Starfish , and a Wind in the Door.
Link: Charlotte's Cyber Webs
URL:
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MESSAGE: (#192) Re: Book suggestion for her
AUTHOR: Cerelle
DATE: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 12:25 a.m.
Reply To: (#191) Book suggestion for her
Author: Charlotte R.
Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 12:13 a.m.
Pamela,
I have one little caveat to share about A Wrinkle in Time. My oldest read it
when she was 8, and she still hasn't fully recovered from the trauma!
Seriously, she found it very emotionally wrenching and disturbing.
It's sometimes hard to remember that young children with advanced reading
skills aren't necessarily ready (on an emotional level) to handle the themes
of some of these books that were written with older children in mind. A
Wrinkle in Time is a lovely book, but an 8-year-old may find it too
frightening. (At least, my 8-year-old did.) I hadn't read it at the time, and
knew only that it was highly recommended by respected friends and reviewers.
Cerelle
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MESSAGE: (#193) Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
AUTHOR: Kandice Sheppar
DATE: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 9:32 a.m.
I have a 9yo son who would gladly read a Pokemon book and that's great....but
it's difficult getting him to read any thing else. It's drugery if it's not
Pokemon. When asked why he likes reading Pokemon he said, he likes the
battles, adventure and people/friends caring and looking out for each other.
Does anybody know what other kind of books might meet this criteria? He will
read the "Magic Treehouse" series...but he's expressing boredom with these
also. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
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MESSAGE: (#194) Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
AUTHOR: Alex
DATE: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 2:52 p.m.
Reply To: (#193) Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
Author: Kandice Sheppar
Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 9:32 a.m.
Danny Dunn series: & the Universal Glue, Invisible Boy, & the Automatic House,
etc.
I was a Sixth Grade Alien series by Bruce Coville: I Lost my Grandfather's
Brain, Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher, etc.
Cam Jansen series (female protagonist, but good mysteries for reluctant
readers - might even be too easy).
Commander Toad in Space, (also an easy series).
The top two might be challenging reads; you might try reading some aloud to
your son and then having him read some himself. The protagonists of the first
two are in school, but hey - the reality is that many of the kids and folks
they'll meet in life will come from there, right? My son doesn't seem to mind
that. If I think of more, I'll post it. Good luck!
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MESSAGE: (#195) Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
AUTHOR: Irishmom
DATE: Wednesday, 28 February 2001, at 3:42 a.m.
Reply To: (#194) Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
Author: Alex
Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 2:52 p.m.
How about My Father's Dragon, sorry I forget the author - 3 books in the
series - my son loved them. Swallows and Amazons by Ransome - really neat
books - we are just starting this series. My 11 yo son doesn't not read well,
has very borderline dyslexia - so even now I often read books to him. I hope
he will one day love to read on his own - we are getting there slowly. :)
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MESSAGE: (#196) Re: Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
AUTHOR: beth
DATE: Wednesday, 28 February 2001, at 10:09 a.m.
Reply To: (#193) Book suggestions for a 9yo boy
Author: Kandice Sheppar
Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 9:32 a.m.
Dragonling books by Jackie French Koller
Dragon Slayer Academy series (sorry, don't know the author)
Commander Toad books (a Star Wars spoof)
Hank the Cowdog series by John Erickson
HTH beth
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MESSAGE: (#198) I want to put a plug for David Adler's biography s
AUTHOR: Giovanna
DATE: Wednesday, 28 February 2001, at 8:46 p.m.
There is a biography series for young readers which I really LOVE.
It's called the "Picture Book Biography" series.
While the name may sound like it is a book for young children you'll be
pleasantly surprised to see how well this is written and how much information
it contains. This is a perfect series for children in early elementary school.
There are biographies on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther
King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Thomas Jefferson, Hellen Keller, Louis Braille, Amelia
Earhart, Jesse Owens, Anne Frank, Jackie Robinson, Frederick Douglass,
Florence Nightingale, Eleanor Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman and
many more.
The books are titled A PICTURE BOOK OF _______ (fill in the famous person's
name). They are all written by David Adler.
EXCELLENT WAY TO INTRODUCE HISTORY!
Go see if your public library has them.
Giovanna
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