[blparent] Sparking an interest in reading

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Jo Elizabeth,

My mom took us kids to the library at least once a week even during the
school year. As late as my teens, we still did this and I always loved
it. I miss walking into a library and being able to pick up any book and
read it. This really instilled a sense of literature in me. Before I
lost my vision, I still visited local libraries in my twenties on my own
just to peruse the stacks and find new material I hadn't read yet. Also,
both my parents also read a lot on their own, and to this day, my mom's
house is cluttered with books. They led by example when it came to
reading, which, for me at least, rubbed off. I pursued a degree in
creative writing, which was not only heavy on the writing but reading
various types of literature. Most my textbooks were literature books,
smile.

However, some people love to read and others don't. My brother and I
can't get enough reading material, and I'm constantly searching
accessible places for books now. One of my sisters enjoys a book every
now and then, but is not the voracious reader my brother and I are, and
my youngest sister has absolutely no time for reading. My husband's
family on the other hand is full of readers. His parents and all three
siblings love to read. So you can do everything "right" and kids still
won't always find reading fun.

It also depends on the age of a child. Much like potty training, it
seems like it will happen when it happens. I say keep doing what you are
doing and eventually she'll come around. I assume she's not school-age
yet since she doesn't know how to read yet, so I wouldn't worry too
much. My mom was actually worried about me because I couldn't yet read
by kindergarten while many of my classmates could. By second grade,
however, I tested at a high school reading level. So we all come into
our own at our own pace, grin.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:52:35 -0600
From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at msn.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Sparking an interest in reading?
Message-ID: <SNT116-DS102E1B1B17AF3FCBA8C595AC2A0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi.  I'm wondering, particularly from the parents of older kids on the
list, what you did to spark an interest in reading?  I've done the
basics--Sarah has had dozens of books of her own since she was an
infant, and I used to read to her all the time before she got too busy
and active.  A lot of her books are in print and braille, so I read to
her when she wants me to, and we talk about the pictures.  She usually
gets a story or two at bedtime, and when she feels like it, I'll stop
what I'm doing to read with her.  She has a great vocabulary and likes
learning new words.  She'll often ask me what something means, like
today she wanted to know what "opposite" was, so we talked about things
that are opposite, like in and out, day and night, etc.  But she doesn't
seem inclined to learn to read by herself at all.  I know her preschool
has done activities with letters--she came home the other day with a
foil tin in which she had planted grass seeds in the shape of her
initials.  I thought that was a great idea, but she didn't care much
about it, and the tin got knocked over before the seeds could grow.
She'll pretend to spell something now and then because when the adults
around her spell words, she knows we're talking about something she's
not supposed to understand, like going to the park or a gift she's going
to get, and so on.  But she's not interested in pointing out letters, or
sounding out words, and the last thing I want to do is push her and make
a battle out of books because that will give reading the kiss of death.
I asked her the other day if she wanted to learn to read and she
casually said no, Mommy and Daddy will do it.  I'd appreciate any ideas.

Thanks,
Jo Elizabeth