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Why do boys hate reading?
- Thread starter SFG75
- Start date
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Motokid said:Now see, that's how to debate. Thankyou ABC. You make complete sense. I agree that things fall apart for girls once they get into teenage-ish years....
Sounds like material for a new thread....this ones about boys...
Ah, but you didn't see me taking off my boxing gloves so I could type
Go ahead, start a thread about keeping girls reading...I have some ideas...
Kookamoor
New Member
I agree with this in a way. Growing up my brother was not a reader, but he did read comics, and my house was full of them. My mother (a librarian) believed that any reading was good reading. He's since become a journalist, so maybe there's something in the concept that reading *anything* helps. By the way, do you have any idea how much basic history one can pick up from reading Donald Duck?! Let's just say that I was knowledgable about Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan by the age of 8 or soThe waveguide said:
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Kookamoor
New Member
So, can we move on from the "do boys read less than girls" debate and start discussing solutions to the problem? If you still think that boys read about the same or even more than girls then perhaps you can frame the general question as "how can we get all kids to read more?".
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Kookamoor said:
Here's one: parties for whatever reason..the example I'll use is a birthday party. The host was a creative Scotsman, who set up a tent in the backyard, and the games and food were centered around a spooky theme. The boys were to camp out..and after an evening of wacky games and goofy food, they sat around in a circle and Uncle Fulton read a couple of Scottish ghost stories..then the boys grabbed the book and took turns reading the stories to eachother..
Simple stuff like that..looking for, and grabbing, reasons to include a book in fun event. Slumber parties are great and since it works best if parents are at least minimally involved, why not set out a few story or poetry collections and stage a contest to see who can deliver the lines the funniest..Perfection is not the aim here..silliness is..and associating books with fun is a prime directive.
SFG75
Well-Known Member
Kookamoor said:
There is a reading program in some schools that are directed at boys to improve their reading skills. A short write-up pretty much explains it:
I would've provided a link, but it takes registration to see the article. If you want to see a brief explanation of this article, as well as others, check out reading rockets.
Kookamoor
New Member
Is it sexist to target just boys, though? It may work, but what about girls who also want the opportunity to get together and read books that *they* enjoy? Personally I'd feel it was a little unfair if I was back in primary school and knew all the boys were going to get to go to such an event.SFG75 said:
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Kookamoor said:
I don't see why they can't have two projects, one for girls and one for boys. Specially for the younger ages when they don't mix that well anyway. I would have loved a book reading club at that age too. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea for the boys, but would not want the girls left without. The point is to raise reader of both sexes.
dragynlady
New Member
My brother in law reads to his his two boys every night, and has since they were wee. They also listen to books on tape as they play with their legos, or do art projects, or play with whatever toys. I often have come over on the weekends to find them sitting around reading from whatever the latest dragon/robot/manga/fantasy fest they are currently engrossed in. I might also brag..er I mean add that these boys (9 and 71/2) have vocabularies that far exceed the average for their age group. Two things that are different about these two nephews, they don't have a tv, and they don't have video games. They do these things at other peoples houses, just not at home. They are not weird geek dorks either. They are charming, athletic, artistic, and funny, and I am certain the youngest one will grow up to be a rock star. (they do both take ballet, but that is normal for my family, we are all dancers)
Reading and stories have always been a major focus of family social life in that house. Both parents are avid readers, though I would say that my brother in law reads more than my sister.
My other nephew who has probably only seen his he-man activist father read the paper, is also a book junky. He is 12, and just got a five cd disc changer to listen to books on cd, and is currently bugging his mom for a subsciption to Audible.com. His mother is the book worm in that family, and reading was always a part of bedtime ritual until recently, when he has gotten older. Now he reads on his own before bed. His mother is also a story teller, and has a regular gig with the charter school where my nephews attend grade school. This nephew also grew up without tv, and just recently got a computer fast enough to play some video games. His time spent playing games is monitored and limited by his parents. He is likewise not geeky, he is a surfer, a drummer, and takes hip hop classes four times a week. ( he told me that it is the best way to meet chicks, LOL)
The point of this lengthy post is to give a picture of a situation that produced three boys that are crazy for reading. Making readers isn't hard, you start by reading to them, and you let them make choices about what they want to read, and you don't let them junk out on tv. I'm not saying sequester them from the medium, but instead of family time in front of the idiot box, why not family time with books? That is just my suggestions, for how to get kids interested in reading.
And by the way, the books on tape thing really helps kids to learn active listening skills.
Reading and stories have always been a major focus of family social life in that house. Both parents are avid readers, though I would say that my brother in law reads more than my sister.
My other nephew who has probably only seen his he-man activist father read the paper, is also a book junky. He is 12, and just got a five cd disc changer to listen to books on cd, and is currently bugging his mom for a subsciption to Audible.com. His mother is the book worm in that family, and reading was always a part of bedtime ritual until recently, when he has gotten older. Now he reads on his own before bed. His mother is also a story teller, and has a regular gig with the charter school where my nephews attend grade school. This nephew also grew up without tv, and just recently got a computer fast enough to play some video games. His time spent playing games is monitored and limited by his parents. He is likewise not geeky, he is a surfer, a drummer, and takes hip hop classes four times a week. ( he told me that it is the best way to meet chicks, LOL)
The point of this lengthy post is to give a picture of a situation that produced three boys that are crazy for reading. Making readers isn't hard, you start by reading to them, and you let them make choices about what they want to read, and you don't let them junk out on tv. I'm not saying sequester them from the medium, but instead of family time in front of the idiot box, why not family time with books? That is just my suggestions, for how to get kids interested in reading.
And by the way, the books on tape thing really helps kids to learn active listening skills.
SFG75
Well-Known Member
Right you are on this point.
I remember that I grew up with a lot of books on records. I may have said so here previously, but I remember to this very day Ferdinand the bull and Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel. This kind of reading promotes "sight-reading" which is very effective for a lot of kids. I'm also very impressed with the leapfrog books as well where kids can read and then put a pen over a trouble word to help them recognize, memorize, and learn the correct pronunciation of the given word. I started a thread on it here if you're interested.
Motokid
New Member
cajunmama said:Actually, I know quite a few adults who are avid readers now, but weren't in their childhood and early adulthoods.
uh, yeah...hello.....that's me....although I would never classify myself as an avid reader. I detested anything that remotely even looked like a book for many many years of my youth.
And a footnote: when I mentioned "comics" I was refering to the ones in the newspaper...not comic books....
