blogger profile

Renee CK

writer, editor, tweetable http://twitter.com/chicskirt

I'm a fun girl who's on a quest to figure it all out. I'm cynical but living the dream- I'm not sure how that happened exactly. Follow along in my blog for fun, mayhem, and merriment. There's never a dull day! (Or, go download my book!)...

READ MORE

Read This?

what should we be giving our kids to read

My son is 9.  He’s very much like his father in that he’s on the autism spectrum and as such prefers logical things like math to abstract things like, oh, say, reading.  Plus, he’s 9 with about an 18 month developmental delay. So we’re talking 7 1/2.  He has the attention span of a bridezilla who’s had 3 Red Bulls on deep discount day at Vera Wang. 

Last year he preferred magazine articles to books because they were non-fiction, he could study the subjects afterwards, and he was done with them in 5 minutes or so.  I was okay with that. He was engaged and he was reading. 

Now I’ll give you the bulk of the email I sent to one of his teachers today because it nicely tells what my concerns are for his third grade reading path.

Last week (my son) climbed in the car with a book called “The Bamboo Flute”.  He had kept it out special, he laid it lovingly on his lap, and read a chapter before we even got home.  I was excited to see him reading.  I looked at the book when we got home, saw it was a chapter book, looked somewhat serious, and was happy that he had found something that was heading towards more serious reading.  He continued to read the book, though it became a battle.  I started to quiz him on what he knew about the book. 5 chapters in, he couldn’t tell me characters, plot, anything other than “there’s a flute made out of bamboo”.  I started to think about the SQ3R process and made up a form to help him through the process by being more deliberate about what he was reading.  My concern started when I started to take a closer look at the book.  12 chapters- that’s manageable.  Bamboo, his dad studies karate and we have some bamboo growing in our backyard, so I can see the interest.  But, as I read the first lines of the book, I had to wonder what got him to attempt to commit to it.  It starts…

“There was once music in our lives, but I can feel it slipping away. Men are tramping the dusty roads, asking for work, a sandwich, a cup of tea.  My father is bitter and my mother is sad.  I have no brothers, no sisters, no after-school friends.  The days are long.  No one has time for music.

That’s why I dream it.”

Holy crap!  I’m a writer and that’s pretty heavy, grown up type stuff!  Reading more about the book, it’s targeted for grades 4-6, yet it’s a 3^rd level AR (Accelerated Reader- the pushed reading program at the school) book.  It’s about the Great Depression.  I don’t even think he knows what that was. 

Okay, but he has another book that he brought home, Crazy Lady.  Ah, yes, sounds much more his speed. It’s got a bright cover with polka dots.  But a little looking around and I’m back to concerned parent.  180 pages of 30 chapters, 5-6 pages average.  Library of Congress descriptors include alcoholism, outcast, and, my favorite, retardation.  As many Newberry Honors recipients, the book is a bit heavy in subject matter. 

This is where experience and being a mother are colliding.  The weight of my college education was spent studying language arts, majoring in English with an emphasis on children’s and young adult literature.  Because I was a passionate reader, I wanted to ensure that students got reading material that was appropriate for them.  Moving into special ed for a year, learning about spectrums, I was opened up to finding literature that is appropriate for weak readers as well; my desire was to find material that they would plug into and become at least moderate readers with books that were of interest to them.  Now I have my own son.  Granted, he’s not the voracious reader I was.  He’s barely interested in chapter books.  And he has a developmental delay.  He can not connect to things like the depression, bitter fathers, alcoholism, and though he’s different from others and we talk about it, retarded is never a word we’d allow him to use. 

Obviously my time and attention has turned from children’s literature unless it applies to my children.  However, I know that when I was studying it as a profession, I was abreast of challenges to material. While I am not a fan of limited speech, I am also not a fan of literature presented without appropriate guidance.  My son was allowed to pluck this book off the shelves and take it home.  Perhaps I hold the media specialist to a higher standard, but I would hope that when she saw the book, a red flag would go off for her.  If not her, someone around should have recognized that these titles were not appropriate for him nor would they serve any part in helping him become a more interested reader.  Crazy Lady was used in a fifth grade curriculum in a San José school and challenged.  As curriculum, with a teacher prepared to discuss the themes of the book, yes, I can see that it could be a useful tool. However, handed to a struggling 9 year old reader without any kind of attention brought to it I feel was a poor choice.

I’m not crazy.  I know that a media specialist can not be in tune with 500+ students in her school.  However, the only information sent home from the library is the “how we treat books” contract at the beginning of the year.  Yes, we’re already paper-heavy at the beginning of a school year, but I’d like to write to the media specialist and suggest that in addition to “what to help your child do” we need to include something about being a part of the reading your child does.  I’m almost thankful this happened to my son.  If (fingers crossed) my daughter becomes a reader like I was, I might have seen that she got another book which she disappeared into her room to read by herself.  Then, on her own she would be learning about extremely important life themes and their effects.  Those are certainly discussions I’d like to be involved in.  And, because I am the parent I am, I am going to know what she’s reading and ask her questions along the way.

So, I’m ready to go on a rampage to inform parents about what is available to their children in the school library which can start ripple effects.  The most important students to me are mine and I’m going to do what it takes to ensure that they are reading age and level appropriate books.  However, I do feel it’s important that something be said to all parents.  If you can help me find the least boat-rocking way, I’d really appreciate it.

I always send my high impact statements through a trusted channel of friends.  I called and read this to my mom.  I left a message for my English college professor friend.  She and I debated it.  I would think that a good portion of you guys were the insatiable readers I was.  You know that there is a range of readers and literature out there for everyone.  What are your thoughts?

I don’t want to be the crazy mom who challenges the school about the curriculum.  But, lucky for my kids, I am a mom who is going to be involved in what they read and be there to answer their questions.  A large part of why I got out of education was because of the apathy parents have about their children’s education. I know, we’re busy, but we need to take a minute or two to touch base with our kids, read the first page of the books they’re reading, look at what math they are doing.  It is not the teacher’s job to raise our children. 

There is a contract we get that the kids wash their hands before they read library books, hold the pages by the edges, do not write in the books, and return them on time that is to be signed by the kids and the parents.  Is it too much to ask that a letter be sent home with that telling parents that because is a range of readers in the school, there is a range of material in the library for them which may or may not be appropriate for them, telling parents that they are part of the reading team for their child and need to look at the books their child brings home to ensure that they have what is appropriate for them? 

Do you have any other ideas, thoughts, answers?  I’m still surveying my team.  I may just go talk to the media specialist. Subscribe her to the Children's Literature Association Quarterly.  Draft the letter to go home to parents.  I want all the ammunition I can get.

Enjoy!
Renee