For The Love of Reading!

I remember the summer I was 13 just like it was yesterday.  It was the summer I spent sleeping outside in our driveway in my family’s pop-up camper, reading “Flowers In The Attic” as well as the entire series by V.C. Andrews.

I would literally read for hours—not because my parents told me to read, but because the story was a movie in my mind.  I could see the characters and the scenes and see them talking.  I could barely keep my eyes open, but I just had to see what happened to the four children who were stuck living in the attic.

I was definitely in a reading flow and I know exactly why.  I can thank my seventh grade literacy teacher, Mrs. Cooper, for introducing me to this book in her classroom. 

I reflect on this story only to share with you that I LOVE reading!  I am one of those people who would rather read the book than watch the movie.  I also believe that the movie never does justice to the book. 

What is currently happening in schools, and in our homes, is something that Kelly Gallagher (Readicide, 2010) , calls “readicide”—the notion that schools are killing reading because of state and federal mandates to ensure we are a nation that is literacy proficient.

Yes, the clock is ticking. In 2014, according to the No Child Left Behind Act, our goal of universal proficiency must be met.  But it seems the gap to attaining that goal has never been further apart than it is now. In fact, it has be argued by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (2007) that because we are perpetuating this unrealistic ideal, we are basically guaranteeing that increasing numbers of schools will fail as this magic year gets closer and closer.

When is the last time you saw your child get into the reading flow?  A place where everything else around them fades into the background because she is so engulfed in a book?

As I think about my students, this year and in the past, very few have gotten into the flow of reading, at least in school.  There are a couple of reasons for this.

Kelly Gallagher, author of Readicide—How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It, suggests that one reason for this is the lack of silent reading time that has now been taken out of curriculums around the country.  Of course, this is because schools have so many guidelines, goals, and objectives to reach to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) that reading for pleasure or just for the love of reading has been deemed a home activity.

Other factors that contribute to readicide is the idea of over analyzing text and not just reading to read.  Gallagher argues that if you were to pick up a book at Barnes and Noble and part of the requirements for buying the book was to sticky note each page, bookstores would be out of business.  I understand what he is saying.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, discusses how success comes to those who have hours and hours of practice before their great success comes.  Relate that to struggling readers, or kids who just don’t like to read.  When we take away the opportunity to have students enjoy reading for the sheer pleasure of it, we aren’t giving them the practice that is necessary. 

As parents, life is busy.  We live in a society where everything is coming at us 24/7.  We are connected in so many ways, and have access to so many things. 

But sometimes, it’s nice to slow down and get lost in a book. I encourage you to visit our public library this summer and get lost in a book.  Enjoy the flow!!