Finding joy in reading
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Sandy Seipel
You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child” ~Dr. Seuss
One of my favorite books as a child was Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorthea Warren Fox. Miss Twiggley lived in a tree house with her dog and invited the bears for tea and games. She sent her dog to town to get the groceries because she didn’t like to be around people. After a torrential rain that flooded the town, Miss Twiggley shared her home with townspeople, making her a hero. What makes a child latch onto a book and remember it many years later? As an adult, I try to analyze why I loved this book so much. Whatever the reason, I loved this book!
As the mother of three grown children, some of my fondest memories are sitting together before bed reading with them. Even when they were middle schoolers, we would read together taking turns reading pages. Looking back, these are precious memories that I am thankful we took time from our hurried schedules to read together.
In our fast paced, busy lives, it is hard to squeeze in even five minutes of reading time. Reading street signs and billboards to road maps (believe it or not, they do still publish road maps) are ways to use car time for reading. Electronic readers are quite the rage, from phones to Kindles to Nooks. Reading helps us in all areas of our lives from school to career or college and beyond. If a youngster doesn’t like to read, reading aloud is a great way to encourage reading without the pressure.
Magic Tree House books are popular but if a child views him/herself as a poor reader, no book will be enjoyable. By reading several pages and having the child read part of a page, you are taking the stress out of reading and enjoying a book together. Asking questions about the reading such as “what do you think about that? Why did she do that? How do you feel about what happened?” encourage the child to interact with the story.
Editor’s note: This is the first of several articles to be written by faculty in Northwest’s School of Education. Walt Disney said “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” We want the articles to assist adults with their questions about literacy as parents and caregivers to help children find enjoyment of reading and share our passion for literacy. These articles will address commonly asked questions about reading and literacy. If you have specific questions or topics that you would like addressed in future articles please let us know at [email protected].
Sandy Seipel is the Horace Mann Lab School Principal and an instructor in the Northwest Missouri State University School of Education.
