...Can you read?

[Guest]

I still maintain the best way to improve your vocabulary, and your understanding of the proper use of current cultural knowledge is to read. Read the news, read the editorials, read novels, read the classics.

I couldn't agree more. It is sad, but the masses today use TV as their sole form of entertainment. It has killed the art of conversation in so much that people don't get a true grasp of the language from it. I am a heavy reader, and this has rubbed off on my kids. My eldest daughter (she's 7) can read anything, she's been able to for ages. More importantly she understands what she reads. My youngest daughter (age 5) is heading in the same direction. They are more literate than some adults in my family. Chloe (my eldest) has read all four Harry Potter books, under my supervision. We had our own little reading group going on and discussed the books as we went along. Most parents (in my experience) just don't do this kind of thing.

This is a very good thing, but it does have its downside: I have to be extremely careful about leaving my reading material lying around. I don't think they are quite ready to read about nasty men going on a killing spree.

Lou

 

[The_Fool]

Chloe (my eldest) has read all four Harry Potter books, under my supervision...

This is a very good thing, but it does have its downside: I have to be extremely careful about leaving my reading material lying around. I don't think they are quite ready to read about nasty men going on a killing spree.

Lou

Darling there are five books now. Gotta keep up. Also, sounds like you require some significant stupervision....

 

[The_Fool]

Here I am being a smartass...again...still.

Maybe instead of television, it should be named stupervision...

 

[deliciously_naughty]

My mom was horrified when I told her that I don't want my kids watching much tv. I'm ok with stuff like sesame street when they're like 4/5 and mister rogers neighborhood, reading rainbow. There are also a few quality shows on tlc, discovery, the pet channel, etc.

However, after spending serious quantities of time this summer watching shows like spongebob squarepants with 8 year olds (babysitting), I had my previous thoughts on television validated. Absolutely zero value in shows like that, or the fairy odd parents, or any of the other nonsense I tried to ignore. (BTW, yes I was begging them to go outside, the pool, anything...but since their parents were fine with them staying inside and watching tv all summer, I was told just to let them)

I don't think that ever watched tv during the day in the summer when I was their age. I'm sure I had an evening program or two, but I was outside from when I got up to lunch and after lunch until my mom made me come in.

 

[CrazyyAngel]

I don't think that ever watched tv during the day in the summer when I was their age. I'm sure I had an evening program or two, but I was outside from when I got up to lunch and after lunch until my mom made me come in.

I was the same at that age, but well thats only because we had just two crappy programs back in former East Germany. Once we got all those fancy programs in the early nineties I stayed in front of the TV alot myself ... And what did it got me? 40 pounds overweight ...

anyway ... You are right, kids shouldn't watch TV so much, when they can go out and be with their friends. But tell that a kid who is already spoiled ... You have to teach them from the beginning in not letting them watch so much. Once the licked blood, you can hardly pry them away from it ... believe me ... I was such a kid .

CA

 

[The_Fool]

I don't think that ever watched tv during the day in the summer when I was their age. I'm sure I had an evening program or two, but I was outside from when I got up to lunch and after lunch until my mom made me come in.

I spent tons of time reading too...

 

[Guest]

It's interesting that "we authors" didn't watch that much tv, that we spent all our summertime outdoors, etc. Makes sense.

I don't take much real pride as a mother, i.e., I simply did my job (feeding, clothing) and tried to protect my sons' innate goodness and beauty. But I am proud of the fact that I never gave in to buying them Nintendo when ALL their friends had them, nor ever bought sugary breakfast cereals. I limited Sesame St. as I never liked its too frenetic pace, Mr. Rogers was great though.

They also learned to love books, ballet and opera from me (I took them to Die Walkure once knowing they'd at least love "The Ride"). In second grade during natl. women's day or something like that my younger son's teacher asked her students to name three women they admired (besides their mothers). My son named Maria Callas, Frida Kahlo and Anna Akhmatova.

pridefully, Perdita

 

[ffreak]

Why do you think they call it the boob tube? They ain't talking bout them fine bumpers on the front of pretty women.

Many people think that a lot of time goes into the writing of a good story to keep you pasted in front of the tube during the show. Really the purpose is to let you get a little bored during the show so you'll be back for the better thought-out commercials so the sponsors (who pay for the drivel) can keep you in thrall while they tell you 'Buy our stuff - buy our stuff - we think you're stupid - buy our stuff'. If you actually pay attention to the ads, you know you could write better than anyone they're throwing money at - except you still have to face yourself in the morning.

 

[ffreak]

Perdita you should be proud - I wonder if the teacher knew who he was naming (good choices btw - not only had been exposed to culture, but he chose good examples)?

My oldest grandson disappointed his mother very early. The first word he learned to speak was not Momma - it was read. He would crawl up into my wife's lap with a book, hand it to her, touch her lips and say read (then promptly twirl around and sit in place expectantly)

All the kids in our extended family know to expect a book from us on birthdays and Christmas. And every few years, we take each to a play, a concert (symphonic), a far-flung museum or natural monument (as opposed to national).

Basically my approach is this; when I grow old (sometime in the far, far future), these kids are going to be in charge of the government and my daily life will be affected. If I encourage enough of them to become literate, I stand a better chance at survival. If I fail, I'll be left to having to be an ornery old codger, pinching the butts of the pretty-little-air-headed nurses. Probably won't even be any girls in the bunch (a depressing thought - I prefer to be uplifted by a hand attached to someone with a couple of them nice, soft pillows). What's really sad is the standard answer I get to any rhetorical question posed in front of a lip-smacking, nasally, whiny 20 something - "whatever" (any younger and all I get is a 5 nanosecond look that says I don't even exist).

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Let me just offer you a different story. I have always lived in a big city and playing outdoors usually meant on the street. All my outdoor playtime was at kindergarten or, later, at school. After school was over, and as both my parents were working all day, I would just stay home, and therefore grew up watching a lot of television and playing with my brother's Nintendo.

I never thought it ever had a numbing effect on my brain. In fact, I'm positive it was the opposite. There was a variety of programs I learnt a lot from; it made me improve my reading skills very early, as most foreign programs have subtitles; when I started to study English, it was a valuable tool, and it gave me more vocabulary and a much faster grasp of the language's structure than school.

I'm sure being integrated in a public education system that actually works was a big help, but we shouldn't throw all the burden of guilt on television.

 

[Guest]

Darling there are five books now. Gotta keep up. Also, sounds like you require some significant stupervision....

LOL!
I never claimed my maths was any good.

I love to be stupefied, care to try?

Lou

 

[ffreak]

touché

let me add another villified medium - comic books.

my oldest loved comic books. his collection eventually reached a few thousand. other people kept saying 'I can't believe you let him read comics.' but when he got into high school and started getting occasional tests about mythology, he aced them. seems the comic world builds their stories around mythology and pretty much stick to the correct events and names. he also aced the reading comprehension and essay writing tests.

I guess the best point of this, Lauren, is that it is not the medium that matters, but the use of the medium as no more than a distraction, or as a way to learn, even if subliminally. (I'm learning from all the interesting details in the AV's here)

Your whipping post -

 

[Chicklet]

Re: Re: ...Can you read?

Without having any more insight into the situation of this particular kid, have you considered dyslexia? It sounds just like a girl I know. Pretty normal, not a dimwit otherwise, but she stumbles when reading any word more then two syllables long.

Actually the idea did occur to me that she might be dyslexic. I am tempted to ask her, but for some reason I think it might just be that she's stupid...she can *copy* any word I write down for her to write without problems. it's just that she's illiterate.

 

[Chicklet]

Insist that she looks each word up, then check later that she spelled it correctly. If she can’t find the word in the dictionary, there is more reason to suspect a learning disorder like dyslexia.

okay, like I said, I work in a Deli. I may be the manager but I still don't really have the urge to have this girl take time off from work in a very, very busy workplace to look up every word in the English language... = (

 

[ffreak]

She may still fool you if she is able to watch you while you write the word.

Our youngest son (the Shanarra fan) has vertical dyslexia (as opposed to horizontal - they make a b into a d - he makes a b into a p) learned context for reading purposes, but if a word was used out of context, like in a spelling list, he depended on watching the teacher write it on the blackboard. Instead of reading the word, he was watching how her hand and arm moved. It affected him more in music - he always refused to sight-read (an f at the bottom of the staff came across as an e at the top of the staff). He would bring his saxophone music home and get his sister to play it on her clarinet. He only had to hear it once to get it right.

People with 'handicaps' teach themselves methods to 'hide' their problem (they think) and sometimes come across as stupid to the rest of us impatient folk.

Defender of the weak and unimaginitive (got to defend myself somehow) -

ps. the vast majority of young people I run into have no context

 

[ffreak]

Is your deli kosher? If so you could send her to shule.

 

[champagne1982]

In spite of the system....

I can read. My mother tells me the story of my grade 1 teacher handing out chalkboard slates to her eager little students sitting on the floor. She did this so that she could teach us phonics.

For a short while the school scoffed at phonics or any other sort of structured language learning. Instead I was taught a "whole language" curriculum where even our math had a smattering of language arts thrown in. I think this was when the schools were having a number of crises about what were "core" and what were "arts" subjects. Nonetheless, my mother was astounded that my teacher couldn't have any phonetics teaching materials in her class and had to resort to duplicity to teach her students in the tried and true methods.

I suppose that I was supposed to learn all of the vagaries in the English language through osmosis, which is all very well if you are a toad. I am very grateful that my teachers disregarded the board of education's decrees and taught the rules of this remarkably complex language.

I would surmise this is why Hooked On Phonics and the like are such retail successes.

Fluently yours, CC

p.s. As was put so poetically, she could be suffering cerebral flatulence, aka - is it ov or of..

 

[openthighs_sarah]

Chicklet,

Have you considered the possibility that she just wanted to hear your pretty voice? It's an old, time-tested trick to ask questions to which you already know the answers just to draw attention.

Chelsea, what are these?

Your breasts. Please put them away now.

But what's this?

That's not very attractive. Or sanitary. Now put the cucumber away this instant, or you're fired.

It's all in the context, you see. To find out if she really can't read, you could write lewd and suggestive things all over your body, and then ask her to read them. If she still can't read them, she's probably just stupid.

 

[destinie21]

This is going to sound crazy but you've never met my family belive me it's the norm.

My mother taught me to read when I was 3. By 5 we were going to the liabrary once a week and I could get 4 books. I would read them by the next week and we'd go back. When I got older maybe 7 or so when I was bad my mother would make me sit in the hall outside of her room. She never once sent me to my room in all my years because she didn't want me reading while I was being punished. It did me a world of good though I would honestly avoid trouble to be able to read. I get mad now when I see parents forcing their child to read as some sort of punishment or what have you it makes kids veiw reading as cumbersome.

go figure on my moms methods though