Tomorrow I get to teach a poetry lesson from Reading 2. My second-grade daughter and I are going to read Lillian Moore’s beautiful poem “Until I Saw the Sea.” I’m pretty excited because I get to introduce my daughter to an important literary device: imagery. [Read more…] about The Benefits of Studying Poetry
Since we have a little one on the way, I decided to get a head start and shop for some books that my son and I can read together over the next few years. I found some great options for curious toddlers and preschoolers. I like these books because they cover everyday things that children interact with and love to learn about. They’re simple—the kind of book you can go back to over and over again and never get bored.
Less is more. Modern illustrations and minimal text leave the door wide open for mom or dad to inject their own “choo choo” effects as the train barrels down the tracks toward its destination.
Planning a trip? This fun book about airports and airliners will make your preschooler an expert before check-in. I would have loved this as a curious kid who was fascinated with the baggage-claim carousel.
The title says it all. This book is nothing but phtographs of signs, signs, and more signs. Ever wonder how some kids figure out what they all mean before they can read?
This very creative book focused on making things by hand has photographs that show raw materials, tools, and finished products of various crafts. It explains (in simple terms) how the object was made. A great learning tool!
If you’re like a lot of parents, you probably play some classical music for your kids. This book identifies a wide range of musical instruments and the sounds they make. It’s perfect for reading while listening to your favorite compositions.
This one is a favorite among parents around our office. It answers that age-old question, “What would happen if everyone did that?” Silly illustrations teach valuable life lessons. A must-read for every child.
I’m looking forward to reading these books with my child to capture the many benefits of reading together. I hope my sharing them will help your family find many hours of enjoyable reading time.
Have book recommendations? I’d love to hear them! Drop them in the comments below.
Do any of the readers at your house fit one of these categories?
Reading skills may be one part of the issue at hand, but another part has to do with the need to develop a love for the written word—information that serves a need, humor that tickles a funny bone, or simply a story that can be enjoyed or appreciated. If reading is hard and seems to have little benefit to a developing reader, reluctance is a reasonable response, even if not the response you want to see.
Love for the written word is a love you cannot force on someone else. We all know the saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink,” and that may be where you are in attempting to turn your child into a satisfied reader. So let’s add a corollary: “You can put salt in his oats.”
Here are some proven ideas about how you can develop a thirst for reading by how you choose books.
True stories—adventures, events, biographies
Factual—science- or history-related books in the nonfiction section of the library
Hands-on guides—project or craft instructions
Adventure novels with fast-paced, action-driven plots
Topics your reader is passionate about
Short chapters
Accessible sentence structure (not overly long or complex)
Plenty of white space between lines and in the margins
Comfortable font size
Illustrations that are appropriate to the age of your reader (not off-putting to your reader because they seem juvenile)
And you may be able to create a thirst for good books by trying out these ideas for getting your reader involved in reading.
Do you have salty oats ideas that have helped your reluctant readers? We’d love to hear from you.
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Nancy Lohr is acquisitions editor at JourneyForth, a division of BJU Press. She has edited dozens of books over the last twenty years and is a writer as well, having authored two historical novels for children, curriculum stories and articles, and numerous book reviews and articles for parents and educators. Nancy was an educator and children’s librarian before moving into publishing, and she loves to see young readers develop into capable and satisfied readers.
Last spring, my daughter’s first-grade class took the Iowa Assessments®. The test confirmed what my husband and I already knew—my daughter excels at reading. At that point she was already reading at a third-grade level, and I have no doubt that her reading skills have only increased since then, considering that she reads during almost every spare moment of the day.
So why am I teaching Reading 2 this year? Why didn’t I skip Reading 2 and go straight to Reading 3? It’s not uncommon for homeschoolers to skip grade levels in certain subjects. It’s also common for homeschoolers to skip the reading curriculum altogether if they have a child who is an avid reader. So why do I use a reading curriculum at all? Why don’t I just let my daughter loose in the public library? Below are some of my thoughts as I struggled with some of these questions.
Many homeschoolers as well as educators in traditional schools write about the benefits of allowing students to choose their own reading materials. They argue that students who make their own reading choices read at a higher reading level than those who read only from a prescribed reading list. They’re right. Allowing students to choose what they read does result in higher reading comprehension. Why? When students are more motivated to read, they tend to choose materials that contain vocabulary they’re already familiar with.
My husband and I do give our daughter some freedom to choose her own reading material. She spends most of her free time reading historical novels that were written for a fourth- or fifth-grade audience. She’s being stretched as a reader, and that’s important.
But we knew that we also needed a reading curriculum. We needed a curriculum that would give me opportunities to teach my daughter literary and critical thinking skills so that she can wisely evaluate and appreciate what she reads.
BJU Press’s reading program combines a basal reader with the study of a novel in order to help me accomplish those very goals. I love all the opportunities I have to help her develop literary skills. Right now, in her first reading book, we are reading a dramatized version of the book A King for Brass Cobweb. Before we started reading, we discussed features of drama such as stage directions, the role of the narrator, and the separation of the plot into different acts. We also discussed some key vocabulary words such as what it means to be a citizen. All of that preparation work helped boost both her comprehension level as well as her appreciation for the piece.
BJU Press’s reading program also does a phenomenal job of teaching critical thinking skills. These higher-level thinking skills take time to develop, but they’re a critical part of the educational process. The development of these skills was one of the main reasons we decided to use Reading 2 this year (as opposed to using Reading 3).
Because of my daughter’s reading abilities, I have made some adjustments to the curriculum. I rarely spend any time on phonics although there is a phonics component to almost every lesson. Sometimes we pick up additional books from the library to supplement some of the nonfiction selections. I also use the included Book Activity lessons and Sustained Silent Reading lessons to encourage my daughter to read books that more closely correspond to her reading skills.
Letting a child choose his or her own reading materials or working through a reading curriculum are not mutually exclusive approaches to developing reading skills. Instead of pitting one approach against the other, use them both to develop reading skills and passion.
My daughter isn’t bored by her reading curriculum. She has enjoyed the selections that we’ve read and is always eager to start reading class. I am too. BJU Press has made it easy for me to share with my daughter my own enthusiasm for reading, and I’ve enjoyed watching her grow in her ability to critically evaluate and appreciate what she reads. However, I know that a lot of her reading success doesn’t come from the reading curriculum. It comes from her almost constant reading of books and other materials that she enjoys. Through them, she is developing a lifelong love of learning that will keep her mind challenged for years to come.
You can view the BJU Press Reading program I’m using here.
Ever since we started reading picture books to our daughters, my wife and I have evaluated the content of the books we bring into our home. Now that our six-year-old is reading on her own, evaluating for objectionable elements is even more important. Below is an excerpt from Elements of Literature Teacher’s Edition. This is the philosophy we use when reviewing books for our children, and it has served me well ever since I read it as a student. I hope you find that it is helpful for your family as well.
“Educational censorship remains one of the most controversial issues in public life, linked as it is to political censorship and freedom of the press. The basis of a truly biblical position concerning censorable elements is the following distinction. If a work of literature or other element of the curriculum treats evil in the same way that it is treated in the Scriptures, we regard it as not only acceptable but also desirable reading. If it does not treat evil in the way evil is handled in the Scriptures, its content is not good.
“Evil in the Bible appears dangerous and repulsive. Reflections of evil appear in the form of negative examples so as to create a defense against what they represent or to give hope to the fallen for forgiveness and recovery from sin.
“We may draw the following three criteria from the Scriptures for judging literary and other works with respect to their content.
“Is the representation of evil purposeful or is it present for its own sake? We know that ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works’ (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Nothing in the Scriptures is superfluous or irrelevant to this high spiritual purpose.
“Is the representation of evil, if purposeful, present in an acceptable degree? Or is it more conspicuous or vivid than the purpose warrants? No one with a high view of Scripture would charge it with inappropriateness or excessiveness in its representation of evil. The presentation of evil in the Bible is realistic enough to convince us of its threat as a temptation but not so realistic as to become for us a temptation.
“Is evil made to appear both dangerous and repulsive? What is the attitude of the work toward it? ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,’ says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 5:20). A good work of literature does not glorify human weakness or encourage tolerance of sin. It allows evil to appear in a controlled way in order to develop in the reader or hearer a resistance against it. In literature, ‘vice,’ wrote Samuel Johnson, ‘must always disgust.’ Its purpose is to initiate the reader through ‘mock encounters’ with evil so that evil cannot later deceive him—so that he will be better able to maintain a pure life in a fallen world.
“These three criteria are complementary. None is alone sufficient to justify the censorable in a work of literature or another element of the curriculum. Together they work powerfully, because they work biblically, to preserve moral purity while providing for a developing moral understanding and judgment.”
Editor’s note: Excerpted from Elements of Literature Teacher’s Edition (p. viii), published by BJU Press.
