Columbia
University professor Lucy Calkins inspired a generation of teachers to help
young children become better readers.
One
of her books is a parents’ guide to raising lifelong learners, and it offers
some very good advice.
Her
basic counsel is that good things come to those who read. If children read
avidly and read a lot, they will write better, spell better, they will know
more, and they will care more.
For
parents, it is critical not only to support reading, but also to do it the appropriate
way.
She
paints two different pictures to illustrate her point. In the first scenario,
the parent asks a child arriving home from school if she has any homework. The
child says, “Yes, I need to read.”
The
parent says, “It’s good to get your homework done right away. Why don’t you go
to your room, sit at your desk, and do your reading? It really matters. That’s
how you get ahead — by reading.”
That’s
one way to support reading. Here’s another: The parent greets the child by
saying, “You’ve had a really long day at school. I bet you’re ready for time to
rest and snuggle. Why don’t we each get our books and read here on the sofa?
I’m in the middle of mine now.”
“I
don’t know that book you’re reading. What’s it like? You are so lucky to have
teachers point you to great books like that.”
The
professor says that while both approaches support reading, the second conveys
the message that reading is one of life’s great gifts.
And
that can make all the difference.
