Over Christmas in Lincoln, Nebraska, we took the kids over to M’s old school, Rousseau Elementary. The kids had a great time running around on the same playground their dad had played on, including a big tractor tire that had been there for 30+ years. It was only after they had hid inside of it that M told me that was where kids used to pee.
M showed Catie the door he walked through every day to get to Second Grade. Our little relater loves nothing more than strolling down memory lane with M or me.
“Was it cold when you walked to school?”
“What was your teacher’s name?”
“What was your favorite thing to do in the Second Grade, Mommy and Daddy?”
M’s answer was math.
My answer was read.
I told Catie how in the Second Grade, I read constantly. Book after book after book. The whole deal…too-mature-for-me chapter books, entire summer mornings lost in a fictional world, flashlight under the covers late at night.
The poor kid, our reluctant reader, recognized my persuasive tone. In between my stories about loving to read in the Second Grade was the urging, “You should read more too, Catie.”
Which is absolutely what I believe. I believe that reading makes you smarter. That reading gives kids a safe place to act out fantasies. That reading builds confidence. That reading is the key to higher test scores. Simply put, reading has always made me very happy. Now I “read” a few audio books a month, downloaded to my iPhone. Plus a couple more on my bedside table. Reading is my guilty escape.
So, when we got home, I started reading about how to make my Second Grader a voracious reader. This article gave good suggestions, which didn’t include what I’ve considered: Shipping her off to tutoring or asking our pediatrician for an Adderall prescription.
Kidding.
M does read with her every night. And I tell her about the books that I’m reading. Maybe a summer reading club for our family?
Or, as James Patterson said in the CNN article, “First you read, then you get up off your seat and do something to fix the problem.”
Through more reading.
Thanks for the article. I’ve already sent it to important people at LSA. Never know.
Thanks for commenting. I thought this one might get you. =)