h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know that I learned to read by sitting on my father's knee and listen to him reading the weekly Donald Duck to me on Tuesdays. At some point it dawned on me that the weird squiggly blackt thingies related to what he said...

C learned quickly in preschool or very early in school, I believe. And N (son, now 16), thought he should be able to do all those things his sister did, so he taught himself. Apparently, we have a lot of self taugth readers in the fanilies in this thread

Loved the "put the book up high" one, Gnomon.

For several years of teaching all the first year intake of our secondary school a regular question from parents was "How can we help her/him with her reading?"..

Being a direct sort of person when I feel that it may be worth it,my normal response was "Do you read anything?"..Almost invariably the answer was "No". Not even newspapers and/or magazines.

Emulation is such a powerful thing for children and they often aspire to be "grown up". Contact with adults who love reading is probably the best way to get kids to read. Those bedtime stories are a good start: and perhaps adults do not read to each other enough. I still recall reading an Azamov story to a friend who was ill in bed many years ago..

Cass

A follow up to my last:

One pupil began to make real progress after parents' evening.. and when I asked him he said that every evening one of the parents went to sit with him and listen to him reading for half an hour. The school operated banding and he was in band two. But at the end of the first year he went up into band one.

Then in the third year they all moved to the upper school building and I did not teach him anymore, but what I observed worried me. He seemed on the decline. I asked another pupil who said that his parents were now out at Bingo most nights leaving the son at a loose end, in fact he often went round to this other pupils house just for the company. He went down to band 2 level again.

Cass

That is such a shame as books would help fill the void he is obviously experiencing. Some people do not deserve to have chidren!

Websailor

Phat Phingers and poor eyesight! children

Websailor

Interesting - that specific misspelling was one that I didn't catch because it was so similar in 'profile' i.e. the way the complete word looks. If you hadn't mentioned, nobody might have noticed

Hi Titania, True, it happens a lot but there will always be somebody to pull me up on things so if I notice (usually as I post), then I like to correct.



Websailor

I often here folks in this part of the country say, "chilren". The roll between the l and the r makes it a bit difficult to determine if they actually dropped the d or not.

Now, when I hear them say, "chilrens" plural, I just shake my head.