[blparent] Sparking an interest in reading

[Veronica Smith]

My neighbors go to the library every Saturday and Gab and I go with them now
and then.  Anyway, that was how I found that our library actually has a
section of Braille books.  They are donated by a family who live in rio
rancho and when their children are done with the books, they donate them.
Cool, huh?

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 10:12 PM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blparent] Sparking an interest in reading

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


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