Reading is a chore?

[ptcruzinkim]

That is a shame. My entire family loves to read. We have been known to have to go and take flashlights and books way so they would go to sleep.

Most kids who don't read live in homes were there are few books and have no idea what they would like to read.

Unfortunately some teachers can ruin any book by the way they teach it. I have had teachers that ruined every piece of literature because you always had to look for the hidden meaning and symbolism. I have also had teachers that could make any book a real treat.

I could not agree more! When I was in school, the teachers would not let up on finding symbols in everything! I like to read for enjoyment, not to find all the hidden symbols.

[momto3daughters]

To my oldest daughter reading is a joy, my middle daugther its when you have to or find a decent book (far and few between), and my youngest reading is nothing more than a pain in her side. Funny thing is the oldest is the video game NUT the youngest would rather be using her own imagination.

I have read to my daughters since before they were born, id rather set around CRIVINS! a good book than anything else. My oldest she gets in trouble ground her from books of anything not school assigments she behaves after that. My youngest is doing a book exchange for Christmas and will not like it much lol. Of course ive taught her to smile and be greatful and thank the person but still lol.

[lubowiem]

Well, I love to read, sometimes I will go a month without picking up a book because I am so busy, and Jellybean will actually tell me to slow down, and go read a book.  He does not share my love or reading "stories" but gobbles up Technical Manuals ()

Now, that being said, a sure fire way to get me to NOT want to read a book is to try to FORCE me to read it.  I hated assigned reading in schools, I hated being FORCED to read anything, suggest a book to me and I am all over it, tell me to read a book or I will flunk and I will resent the "book".  My 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers knew this about me (I went to a small private school for advanced children at the time) and would give me book "suggestions" during the year and during summer camp, I read them up, and did not mind reading them again when it was time for the assignment...the first assigned book that I did not "resent" was "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and i was assigned books by two of my Fav authors, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume before that.

I am just hard headed!

I just read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" with my 2nd grade daughter. I remembered it from elementary school and thought she might like it (and she hates to read). She LOVED it. I guess part of the battle is finding something that the kid finds interesting. At least now after reading this, she is more interested in reading other books and has asked me to help her find some good ones.

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

I just read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" with my 2nd grade daughter. I remembered it from elementary school and thought she might like it (and she hates to read). She LOVED it. I guess part of the battle is finding something that the kid finds interesting. At least now after reading this, she is more interested in reading other books and has asked me to help her find some good ones.
[/quote]

I think one of the reasons I liked it was because the girl was taking care of herself and was independent.  I was in 3rd grade when I read IOTBD (7 years old) and my other favorites were "Secret Garden" "Anne of Greengables" and all Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books.  In 4th grade I moved on to C.S. Lewis and have fallen in love wioth those ever since.  HOPE THIS HELPS!

[Another Liz]

I know a couple of people already said something like this, but reading 5 pages and answering questions about them is a chore.  I have always loved to read, and devoured libraries as a kid, but I absolutely hated reading novels for class.  Dividing a book up into teachable blocks just ruined the flow and took all the fun out of getting carried away with the story!  I got in trouble a few times for reading ahead of the class, because knowing what came next ruined the teacher's assignments.  But seriously, if you are assigned The Hobbit, you just don't stop reading at the first appearance of Smaug because the teacher said so!

[Betsy]

I got in trouble a few times for reading ahead of the class, because knowing what came next ruined the teacher's assignments.

You too?! I thought I was the only one! I got good really quick at reading the assignment, doing the questions and  then continuing on to my hearts desire. It was the "in class discussion" about foreshadowing or whatever that I got in trouble about b/c I couldnt remember where the assignment stopped

[fklwmn]

I know a couple of people already said something like this, but reading 5 pages and answering questions about them is a chore.  I have always loved to read, and devoured libraries as a kid, but I absolutely hated reading novels for class.  Dividing a book up into teachable blocks just ruined the flow and took all the fun out of getting carried away with the story!  I got in trouble a few times for reading ahead of the class, because knowing what came next ruined the teacher's assignments.  But seriously, if you are assigned The Hobbit, you just don't stop reading at the first appearance of Smaug because the teacher said so!

hehe... in 9th grade we read Lord of the Flies. The teacher otold us it was okay to read ahead so I finished the book overnight. Then we would take chapter quizzes that would ask something like "What happened at the fire-side meeting (I can't remember what they called themin the book?) in Chapter 5?" I HATED those quizzes b/c I had no idea which meeting was in chapter 5, I had read the book 2 weeks prior!!!

[LadyJaneinMD]

>>  I love to read, and once I learned the finer points of "reading between the lines" (ie, literary analysis), and discovered there was more to what I was reading than just the words, and the imagery produced by the words, reading became much more of an adventure to me. It's not a wonder that I have a degree in English, and contrary to popular belief, earning a degree in English is no cakewalk. It does require a love of reading, because you're going to be doing a LOT of it, and of writing - because you're going to be doing a lot of that too.  <<

I love to read too, and have since childhood.  I also hated the way the English teachers dissected books and it drove me crazy, but now that I'm in my 40s, I understand why.  Unfortunately, I don't know how they could do it and make it interesting, but that's one of those things that 'you'll thank me for later'.  LOL  There are lots of times in the middle of a book that I catch something that I might not have caught without those boring English class dissections.

And I am not an English major. I majored in Sociology, and work in computers.  Pretty far away. 
So, when my nieces are complaining about the boring teaching, I will be able to tell them honestly that 'you'll appreciate it later.  Really.'

[Slartibartfast]

I grew up with an abridged, annotated version of "Gulliver's Travels," which I LOVED.  I could just read it straight through if I wanted to, or I could follow all the footnotes that told you which parts of the British government the author was satirizing.  I read an unabridged version later, and it just wasn't the same - yes, the abridged one cut out the boring bits, but it also broke up the monotony by explaining the *reason* the author included the weird details he did.

As a librarian now, I will say that even though most children aren't crazy about reading for school, even my poorer readers will sit down and get immersed in a book from time to time.  (They do get stuck here at the library after school while their parents are at work, so I guess they don't have the option of going home to play video games, but still . . .)

[Ehelldame]

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[Clara Bow]

I am a voracious reader, my husband reads as well but not as much as me. The house is packed with books of all kinds. We're doing our best to encourage our son to be a reader as well (when he wants us to read him a story we drop whatever we're doing and read unless we just can't {something like cooking} and then the other parent stops to read) We tell him all the time how important books are and we read in front of him and talk about reading at dinner.
I don't understand people who don't read, I've gotten so much out of books that I cannot imagine life without them! I think that parents need to teach their kids about reading (my Dad recommended books to me all the time and I really enjoyed them. It was a way we bonded, over our love of reading) and have family reading time and discuss books with one another. Kids will never challenge themselves if they are not encouraged to do so. But a lot of parents don't read either. I could rant here, Cyndi really hit a big nerve with me but I'm going to try to keep this brief: This society's value for education and intellect is going down the tubes, and our wholesale refusal to read, or only read garbage with no edifying material thrown in, is a perfect example of my point.

[NEDESAPIO]

Only five pages of a novel!  I wonder what they would have said to reading one or more chapters!

Novels can take a long time to read.  You mention Great Expectations:  Dickens' are the kind of novels in which you have to immerse yourself; they date from a time period (the nineteenth century) when people had little else to do but read.  You can't skip over the detail in a Dickens novel, hoping to "get to the plot"; Dickens meant for his readers to slow down and enjoy the entire experience of reading his work.

Sadly, most kids (and adults) today have so much else going on in their lives that they have no time for the total immersion which Dickens and other great novelists require.

Edited to add:  This is in no way a condemnation of you, for not liking Great Expectations.  I'm just using Dickens to illustrate the fact that many long novels require total immersion on the reader's part -- something hard for people to achieve today.

[Gwywnnydd]

I got in trouble a few times for reading ahead of the class, because knowing what came next ruined the teacher's assignments.

You too?! I thought I was the only one! I got good really quick at reading the assignment, doing the questions and  then continuing on to my hearts desire. It was the "in class discussion" about foreshadowing or whatever that I got in trouble about b/c I couldnt remember where the assignment stopped

I never got in trouble for reading ahead, but only because I was able to follow the class discussions. I'd regularly be assigned a book that we'd be studying for the next two weeks, and come back to class the next day having finished it. The teacher's questions for class discussion would remind me enough of where the class was that I'd be able to contribute. My teachers didn't worry about it much. Their biggest complaint throughout my school years was that I would be reading something *else*, not that I wasn't reading :}.

[Cyndi]

NEDESAPIO: Oh, I so agree. I also found that Dickens just wasn't to my interest and the class just bogged down even more(I did read ahead and it still bored me).

Last year I picked up The Mists of Avalon, which is a pretty huge and detailed book, and finished it in exactly one month when I read it for two or so hours a night. I also have some Godzilla novels by Marc Cerasini that I read to kill time before choir practice.

I think the subject matter can also determine whether or not a child is interested in the assignments. It's a pity they can't pick something that appeals to more modern tastes, like a scifi book or a fantasy novel. Those can have just as much symbolism as older stories.

I also can't help but wonder what purpose making huge posters serve. I never had to do that, but I'm sure they're a hassle and a half to transport, store, etc.

[RuneGuardian]

It doesn't necessarily sadden me that kids are less interested in reading these days, but it doesn't surprise me either. I was never into reading a whole lot, and I blame it mostly on school forcing me to read literary garbage like To Kill a Mockingbird. Some literature I enjoy, and I love to write, but when I had to read something I didn't understand or that was sickeningly stupid or boring, it certainly was a chore. This is just me, but I find my train of thought will shift when I try reading novels and I'll forget what happened previously in the story. When the chapters will trail off into a whole new sub-story, I forget what already happened. When I read a novel, I feel like I'm reading a ton of different stories. That doesn't help when you have a cumulative test on the entire book. This is why I prefer short stories - if anything climactic happens, it usually happens often enough to keep my attention. Novels usually have such wide gaps between exciting moments that I rarely have interest enough in them to continue reading the boring stuff. I realize every paragraph can't be exciting, but when you go a hundred pages without anything interesting happening, the book starts to look better on the shelf than in your hands.

Some of it may have to do with the parents - when the parents don't read, the kids won't want to read. Also, if schools start making kids read material that's actually good or makes sense, more people might get into reading. Some books I read during my academic life I enjoyed, like "The Outsiders", "Medea", and "Number the Stars". I wouldn't read them again, but I sort of liked those. My problem is I'm a visual learner - I prefer film, animation, or comics/graphic novels to convey a plot rather than words. My miniscule book collection consists mostly of comics and manga, a book fo Poe's work, and two non-fiction/informative books; I also enjoy reading fanfiction because I can easily picture the characters in my mind (because I know what they look like already). Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying reading is bad, and I really wish I had the ability to get into a story like my friends can...but for the most part, reading has pretty much always felt like a chore to me.