~*reading*~

How important is reading? How much do/es your child/ren read? Do they enjoy it and eager to do it, or is it like pulling teeth to get them to do so? Do you think some people are just "natural" readers or do you think it is something that must be developed?


My daughter has always enjoyed reading and I have always encouraged her to do so. I love to read! I think it makes you smart and able to develop a wider vocabulary.

As my daughter was going through her elementary years, I always attended the book fairs with her, we made a big deal out of it, and would buy her new books to read. That was always something that both of us really enjoyed doing together.

As she has gotten older, we have bought books at garage sales, resale shops, book stores and various other places. Recently, my mother gave us hundreds of books that she has collected over the years and we plan to set up a tiny library/ office in our extra bedroom.

I do think that reading comes naturally to some, some kids/people just seem to enjoy it automatically, while others struggle to focus and really are not interested in it.

My mom always read a lot when I was growing up and had a lot of books. That is when I developed my love for reading. My daughter followed along those lines as well. In fact, she can have 2-3 books going at the same time, which is something I would never have thought to do or wanted to do. I think it would be too confusing...

:)

Well, I think it's a natural thing, and not quite learned. I grew up with a mother who read ALL the time. I had scotopic sensitivity syndrome (a form of dyslexia, sort of) which gave me headaches within 10 minutes of reading until I got my "orange" specks at 18, then I became an AVID reader. Before that, it was like pulling teeth to get me to read at all. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I got headachey really quick and discouraged as a result.

One of my ex-step-son's half brothers (he had 5 half siblings) at age 9 could read the pants of most adults and his comprehension was incredible. I gave him the Enders Game series (all 8 books) for his 9th birthday and he devoured them and understood EVERYTHING and practically reiterated the series to me a WEEK later. Same with the Seafort Saga... ate them right up. He read the last Harry Potter book in TWO DAYS. :o

My son reads and for the most part enjoys reading. His comprehension, at 9, is a little quirky ~ but he does very well for his age. Writing is another story (pulling teeth, LOL). My daughter LOVES books. But, I also raised both of them with reading them books from birth on... I didn't wait. Dr. Suess from the get-go... they have ALWAYS loved books.

But, I also know kids who have no interest. My cousin's daughter ~ well, she has to be FORCED to read anything and its never for pleasure and it's always a fight. She's 10.

~phosphorescent

My son has always been an avid reader. But, I cannot get my daughter to read. I think it's because it has always been more difficult for her to read than it was for him. I read to both of them ever since they were babies and she still loves for me to read to her, but she just isn't interested enough to pick up a book and finish it from cover to cover.

All my kids are readers, but my middle son wasn't till he got out of school. I think the forcing him to read for school did it. Reading should be enjoyable. Even comic books, whatever they'll read, just to get the imagination running.

TV supplies all the pictures for them, its good for them to learn to picture things for themselves. I'm even hot on audio books if they aren't readers. I used to put tapes, now CDs in when we went on long car trips, and they all liked that.

Carley loves the Lemony Snicket books, Boxcar Children, umm, the ones with the twins, are those Sweet Valley? Plus she writes and illustrates stories of her own. She was a little let down by the Lemony Snicket movie, I think her mind had played things out differently than the movie did.

I was one of those nearsighted geeky kids who always had her nose buried in a book. Reading is like my best friend, I wish everyone could enjoy it.

Kat, even sticker books, with a theme to them, or children's cook books, whatever she's interested in at the time are great, but please don't say, here's a book, read it. It shuts the fun right off.
When Carley says stuff like, I wonder how the pioneer kids lived, I say something like, well, lets go to the library and see if they have any pictures we could find, and she always winds up taking a book home that she found. But if I just bring her home a book, it usually just sits there.

RE: The Series of Unfortunate Events. Bella, have you read them? They are REALLY enjoyable to read! My son finished the series and told me I "HAD to read them." I've read through book 6 and need to get the rest from my Mom. They are soooo funny.

My son was also disappointed in the movie. I didn't see it (yet), but from what he told me, I know I will be disappointed, too. The inconsistencies. He said that in the first book, Violet had made the grappling hook to get to Sunny and in the movie, it wasn't Violet, but Klaus and he didn't use a grappling hook at that really upset him. :o

For me, generally speaking ~ if I've read the book, I don't want to see the movie. If I see the movie, I don't want to read the book (it ruins the book for me).

My son is reading the Spiderwick series at home school right now and reading Harry Potter, Prisoner of Azkaban at home and in the commute.

~phosphorescent

My little 3 year old granddaughter and I have just discovered the joy of reading Dr. Seuss! She cracks up at the jokes. I love reliving how I enjoyed reading to my kids, through reading now to her.