LME 518-Blog 1: Children and Reading
Reading is a fundamental skill that children and adults everywhere use on a daily basis. Reading for pleasure is something that fewer people do based on current research. Voluntary reading has declined from 1982-2002 (Tomlinson, Lynch-Brown, & Short, 2004, p. 10). This is why, as educators, it is important to promote life-long reading.
In Essentials of Children’s Literature (2004), the authors state, “Children love a good story.” In Essentials of Children’s Literature (2004), there are many things that define good literature. The content and quality of a book are two topics discussed. “Children read literature to experience life. Their experiences inside the world of a story challenge them to think in new ways about their lives and world,” (Tomlinson et al., 2004, p. 4). In the first chapter of Essentials of Children’s Literature, the authors discuss the value of story in making meaning of our lives, the value of literature in children’s lives through enjoyment, personal and cultural identity, imagination and transformation, knowledge and insights, understanding and empathy, literary and artistic preferences, and the value of literature for children’s learning through reading and writing, literature across the curriculum, and art appreciation and visual literacy (Tomlinson et. al, 2004). Making sure to focus on many different aspects and topics can help promote a love for reading in children regardless of their reading abilities.
In chapter 2 of Essentials of Children’s Literature (2004), the authors state, “The best teachers know their students well. They know their long-term and short-term interests, their home environment and families, their friends and social activities, their hobbies, their skills, their hopes or plans for the future, and the kind of books they currently select in free-choice situations,” (Tomlinson et al, 2004, pg. 16). Knowing your students, their likes and dislikes, and their reading abilities are crucial to the teacher or school librarian. Being in tune to what your students want to read will help promote life-long reading. This can be discovered through questionnaires or talking to your students about their interests. It is also important for the library media specialist to respect the rights of children to select their own personal books for leisure to develop a life-long reader (Tomlinson et al., 2004, pg. 20).
In a Yale study that appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, it is suggested that reading-impaired young children have higher levels of metabolites glutamate and choline in their brains (Dodson, 2014). These higher levels continue to be indicative of difficulties in developing typical reading and language skills (Dodson, 2014). By discovering what children want to learn about and what they want to read, a teacher or librarian can provide materials of interest to children. This will encourage reading and promote a desire for children to want to find more books to read.
Students that read willingly seem to develop a greater vocabulary and knowledge base than students that do not read independently. The University of London’s Institute of Education (IOE) announced the release of a study showing that children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers, (Peterson, Sharp, Alverson, MacGregor, Bird, Jonker, & Hunt, 2013). Another study that connects academic achievement to a child’s reading found that if a child had access to just ten children’s books by the age of four, a part of their brain involved in language and thought matures more quickly by the age of 18 or 19, (Macrae, 2012). Macrae also states that the study identified that children that were well-rounded through books, educational toys, and traveled at the age of four, had parts of the brain that were thinner (which is good in terms of development). These students did better on tests of language comprehension, (Macrae, 2012). Exposure to different genres and topics can help students build academic vocabulary which can help improve achievement.
In conclusion, research shows that exposure to reading a variety of “good literature” at an early age can help a child developmentally and academically. It is the responsibility of the school library media specialist to try to find out what each child has an interest in when it comes to reading. By providing a collection that interests children, life-long reading will be promoted and encouraged.
References
Dodson, H. (2014, March 11). Levels of key brain chemicals predict children’s reading ability.
Retrieved from http://news.yale.edu/2014/03/11/levels-key-brain-chemicals-predict-
children-s-reading-ability
Fiona, M. (2012, October 4). Required reading: Studying books at the age of four helps
boost the brain in later life. Retrieved from Daily Mail,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217722/Reading-How-books-age-helps-boost-
brain-Reading-young-age-helps-organ-mature-quicker-later-life.html
Macrae, F. (2012, October 14). Required reading: Studying books at the age of four helps
boost the brain in later life. Daily Mail. Retrieved from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217722/Reading-How-books-age-helps-boost-
brain-Reading-young-age-helps-organ-mature-quicker-later-life.html
Peterson, K. M., Sharp, C., Alverson, B., MacGregor, A., Bird, E., Jonker, T., Hunt, J. (2013,
September 13). UK study links kids’ pleasure reading to strong school performance.
Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2013/09/research/uk-study-links-kids-pleasure-
reading-to-strong-school-performance/#_
Tomlinson, C. M., Lynch-Brown, C., & Short, K. G. (2014). Essentials of Children’s
Literature (Eighth ed.). United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc.
