[blparent] sensoring: reading, etc

Thu Aug 11 14:33:02 UTC 2011

I read with my daughter when I was pregnant with her, she is now 19 and not 
a reader, to my dismay.  I can't remember when I stopped reading books to or 
with her.  My son is 11 and we just stopped reading together last year, he 
still wanted to read the Magic Treehouse books and his teacher and I wanted 
him to read something more challenging, so then he got stubborn and refused 
to read with me anymore.  To my dismay, he's not a reader either.  I even 
recommend books to him, such as the series by Kelly Armstrong made for 
tweens or teens ... I've read the books and thought he'd like them, but I 
bought them at the beginning of the summer, and they remain unread.  He 
really likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and I've read them so we could talk 
about them.  Another series, which I've only been able to find the first 
book of is Alcatraz books, but I've read the first one and am searching for 
others.  My littlest one just turned a year and I've read to him ... not as 
much as my other kids, sorry to say, but we've been getting better.  We read 
now at naptime and bedtime and he'll go get books and bring them to me, I 
always stop what I'm doing and take the time to read them to him.  He is the 
only one of my kids to actually bring me books to read, so maybe he'll be my 
reader, I can only hope.  I love to read and it's been disappointing to not 
have any children that love to read as well, holding out hope for Dylan. 
We've already read 10 Chirpy Chicks four times this morning, lol.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Melissa Ann Riccobono
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:08 AM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] sensoring: reading, etc

Austin is four now--he still loves certain picture books, but recently he's
discovered the Beverly Cleary books.  I have read him a couple, a chapter at
a time, and he's listened to others that NLS has recorded.  He's really
enjoying reading in both ways, and I can really tell it's improving his
vocabulary since the words are just a bit bigger.  He's also really starting
to be able to read simple stories by himself, which is also exciting.  My
mom read aloud to me until I was in middle school.  Part of that was because
I didn't have as much access to books then as blind kids do now; you have
best sellers on Bookshare right around the time they are out...  I lived in
the old days when a book wouldn't be available in braille or on cassette for
a long time.  I really hope to be able to read with my kids for a long time
as well.
Melissa

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Deborah Kent Stein
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 6:10 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] sensoring: reading, etc

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a great King novel that I think would work
well for middle-schoolers.  To my recall there's no sex or overt violence,
but it's a gripping page-turner about a nine-year-old girl managing to
survive when she gets lost in the woods.

On the topic of reading, I'm curious to know how much parents on this list
read aloud with their kids.  In my house we kept it up far beyond picture
books, even sharing classics like Watership Down and A Tale of Two Cities.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peggy" <pshald at neb.rr.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 2:11 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] sensoring: reading, etc

> What works for certain families isn't right for other families.
> Conserative or not, I respect everyone's beliefs.  I am not conservative
> in the least and probably ... at times ... speak too frankly with my
> children.  I would love for them to stay little ... forever ... but it's
> not happening ... and I would rather they learn the facts through me than
> finding out things other places.  I do not think all Stephen King's
> materials are appropriate for 12 year olds ... I don't remember anything
> in it that would traumatize my 11-year-old.  There may be some sex in it,
> honestly I don't remember, what I remember is there's a lot of geography
> in there and teaching a lot about working together to defeat evil.  Now he

> wrote a book called Gerald's Game about a man and woman ... the woman was
> handcuffed to the bed ready for um er ... and then the man dies ... would
> I let my son read that one, no. Misery was about a girl that traps a man
> and saws him all up and tortures him would I let my son read that one ...
> no.  Some parents out there would disagree with me and let their kids read

> whatever, that's fine, some probably think I'm horrible for letting my
> kids read what they do, and that's fine too.  She asked about the Stand
> and I would let my son read that one ... if only he was interested in
> reading.  I love these lists, you get so many people's perspective!
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Gabe Vega
> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:34 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] sensoring: reading, etc
>
> I'm glad I'm only fiscally conservative because if I was anyway shape or
> form related or on the bandwagon with this posting I'd be ashamed.
> On Aug 10, 2011, at 9:14 AM, jan wright wrote:
>
>> Very long rant: be forewarned.
>> Ok, i am admitting up front:
>> there are certain subjects that I am definitely conservative on and
>> there are other subjects that I am quite liberal on.
>> I just read the posts about sensoring -- (I know I'm behind)
>> About this subject, i admit that i am conservative.
>> With my first four: i did not let them play violent video games. i
>> remember having an argument with other parents when they let their
>> 6-8yo watch "Rush Hour," with Jackie Chan. i remember having a
>> discussion with teachers when they let their class read "counterfeit
>> son," which i found objectionable.
>> Certainly the darker side of life exists. But: at this innocent age,
>> why highlight it in such a manner. when they don't have to go through
>> it, why allow them to experience it through a book? ... ... especially
>> when that book is not a biographical account, but a fictional account
>> -- not a biographical account of triumph, but something that has been
>> made up in someone's head...
>> / For me: I want my children to 'be children' for as long as they need
>> to. There is something about exposure that makes children have the
>> knowledge without the emotional experience to process such events. I
>> read Ishmael Beah's account of being a boy soldier at the age of 6-10.
>> (the book  was called "A long way gone," and Ismael Beah is from
>> Sierra Leonne and now works for Human Watch).  this experience scarred
>> the boys for life. Why would i want my 10yo to experience such things
>> through a book?
>> I don't think that there is anything wrong with childhood innocence.
>> Of course, we don't want our children to be too naive about somethings
>> that could be potential dangers. But, i'd rather tell my children what
>> they need to know, instead of reading it in a book that might put a
>> spin on it that I don't agree with. of course, parents get to decide
>> when this exposure should happen. When your five year old asks: "Where
>> did I come from," most parents don't say, "let me tell you about sex."
>> they offer a truthful version, yet, they leave out many of the
>> details. When we see a homeless person on the street, we shouldn't
>> ignore the child's question: but we don't have to hear all of their
>> (possibly) drug adicted  story of criminal elements and such. i am not
>> sure that it really benefits the child to know all of the gory
>> details. I'd rather focus on what to do about it.
>> This is what i think that many books lack.  Their point is to shock
>> and awe and at  9-12 , I don't want my children being shocked and awed
>> by the groosome things of the world. i would rather them be shocked by
>> an astonishing fact. It did not bother me  that, at 12, my daughter
>> was not boy crazy or trying to have a boyfriend. i knew that it would
>> come soon enough and did not feel that she needed to be exposed to
>> adult content to encourage such things.
>> .... My sons, neither, for that matter.
>> But, my niece at 10 is already boy crazy and knows quite a bit about sex.
>> My nephew, at 12, knows how to break into a house, how one might go
>> about killing someone else and which types of guns are used for the
>> best results in such matters.
>> He has read a book about a guy who has commited suicide and why/how he
>> did it.
>> What purpose does this serve him at 12?
>> i am not saying that we need to shelter our children from real issues
>> that plague Americans. But, there is a way to do this without throwing
>> them in the deep end and saying: "sink like a baby or swim like a
>> man."
>> There is nothing wrong with innocence, it doesn't have to mean
>> complacency. and, does it really damage the child to wait three or
>> four more years before being exposed to such things???  My children
>> knew that AIDS (for example) was quite harmful and even at 10-12, they
>> knew how one might contract the disease. But, I would not have allowed
>> them to read a very rivitting acount of sex, drugs etc from someone
>> who had AIDS for them to learn that it was a horrible  disease.  I'm
>> not personally saying this about any parents on this list. But, I feel
>> that many parents that i know are on a quest to grow up their child as
>> quickly as possible.
>> We seem to want to hurry them along through the childhood stages, so
>> they can become little adults instead of children. We get angry when
>> they are developing too slow and we are proud when they develop ahead
>> of schedule. "my child knows..." "My child can..."
>> Maybe it is a desire for them to be independent and less dependent on
>> their parents. Maybe it is a desire for our children to be "the best,"
>> and we deem that the "best" is getting somewhere or doing something
>> before their peers.
>> Whoops, getting off my soapbox!
>> Bridgit, the books that we use to think were for High Schoolers, are
>> now for junior High Readers. i don't understand it. "to kill a
>> Mockingbird," or "native son," which use to be High School reading is
>> now for 6-7th graders. i don't think that it should be. If i go any
>> further, i'll start talking about "society's desire for
>> entertainment," which is becoming more astonishing every day. and,
>> Yes, i do feel that in some ways, we are becoming desensitized to the
>> effects of such real damaging experiences.  What use to entertain our
>> parents at this age, certainly will not suffice for us. We seem to
>> always think that newer, bolder and more telling is better.
>> But, i am telling you that I am conservative on this point.
>> when i read a novel, i don't need to know "blow by blow," or "Thrust
>> by thrust," (in the bedroom) to get the gist of what is happening.
>> I am not fond of many authors putting a bit more and more erotica in
>> their books. i find it demeans the act, itself and the emotions behind
>> it. I feel like i am watching porn.
>> Did I say that i was conservative ???
>> (smile)
>> just my own opinion on the subject.
>> Rant over.
>>
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