{"id":1541,"date":"2015-03-31T07:41:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T13:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2015-03-31T07:41:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T13:41:24","slug":"is-a-childhood-love-of-reading-crucial-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/is-a-childhood-love-of-reading-crucial-for-success.html","title":{"rendered":"Is a childhood love of reading crucial for success?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Here\u2019s something I started typing up a while back; thought I\u2019d finish this as a distraction from the current unpleasantness in the news.<\/p>\n

Books and me go way back.<\/p>\n

My mom likes to tell the story that I\u2019d get in trouble at school for sneaking another book (and no, not the comic book of a Calvin & Hobbes strip) when we were supposed to be reading the reading or social studies text together as a class. \u00a0And I know I read from a very young age, and took pride in being able to read above grade-level.<\/p>\n

But you know what? \u00a0I can\u2019t really recall any favorite books or series from childhood. \u00a0I remember\u00a0Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Ruth Chew books (which were out of print when I looked for them a couple years ago but are now apparently being reissued<\/a>), and read all the\u00a0Marguerite Henry titles,\u00a0<\/span>and I know I read a certain number of books that were \u201cclassics\u201d like Little Women and the Chronicles or Narnia series, but I don\u2019t recall them with any particular affection. \u00a0At some point my parents got me started with James Michener books \u2014 Hawaii, Chesapeake, Poland, Space, etc. \u00a0And again, other than Gone With the Wind, which I read multiple times, there aren\u2019t really any books that I remember as being a \u201cfavorite book.\u201d \u00a0In college, I had friends who seemed a lot more \u201cliterary\u201d than I was, and I felt like I had to \u201ccatch up,\u201d so I picked up all manner of classics (think Wuthering Heights) at the used bookstore, though nothing really clicked. \u00a0And now I tend to stick with politics, history, and biography.<\/p>\n

Not so with my middle son: \u00a0he first loved, loved Harry Potter, which he read in 3rd grade, and was convinced there\u2019d never be anything as good, until I said he should try Rick Riorden, and, when he was convinced that Percy Jackson was the only good series, I insisted he give Fablehaven a try; now he\u2019s read everything Brandon Mull has written and is branching out, as long as it\u2019s older kids\u2019 fantasy and science fiction. \u00a0My youngest? \u00a0He read all the Magic Tree House books, then the Secrets of Droon, now he\u2019s starting on some Beverly Cleary. \u00a0My oldest? \u00a0He likes teen science fiction, though he goes through phases of reading a lot, and then not at all; sometimes, though, he and my middle son will argue because they both want to read the same library book.<\/p>\n

So we should be set, right, in terms of our children\u2019s future success in life?<\/p>\n

How about some counter-examples:<\/p>\n

My husband. \u00a0I tend to say that I mostly fake it as an actuary, but he truly is one, with a master\u2019s in math, and an ability to visualize math much better than I ever could, instead stumbling through a problem by brute force. \u00a0And he\u2019s great with the consultant side of things, and interacting with clients, and he\u2019s teaching himself programming in his spare time (though this is a relatively new project, so I can\u2019t report on the progress). \u00a0But reading? \u00a0Not so much. \u00a0Yes, of course, Zite, and Spiegel,de, but not books, not now as an adult, and not much, as a kid, either, with the exception of Tolkien.<\/p>\n

My brother. \u00a0He was a C student (I think); didn\u2019t have the grades to get into college much of anywhere, so he attended the local community college for two years, then transferred to Michigan State and got a degree in business. \u00a0(Yes, the community college + transfer route does work.) \u00a0He got a job at K-Mart; their system was that one worked as an assistant manager at a store for five years or so, to gain experience and earn your way into headquarters, where he then worked as a buyer, until the bankruptcy. \u00a0But he landed on his feet, ended up as a buyer at a hospital, and learned his job so well that he\u2019s now Director of Purchasing or some such title, and earning a pretty healthy income.<\/p>\n

Did he read as a kid? \u00a0Hardly.<\/p>\n

Which means that when I read facebook-friends posting about how thrilled they are that their kids love reading, or when the kids\u2019 teachers talk about how they\u2019re all set because they like books, I hesitate. \u00a0Of course, being able to read well is important. \u00a0But some kids are transported into other worlds, or into stories of relationships, family, friendships. \u00a0And others aren\u2019t. \u00a0And there are other important skills for children to acquire, that are not gained from \u201ccurling up with a good book\u201d any more than they are gained from video games: \u00a0relationships with peers, mechanical and \u201cmaker\u201d skills, the arts, physical activity, etc.<\/p>\n

(It also seems to me that children\u2019s fiction has changed quite a bit: \u00a0perhaps I simply was unaware of the choices available to me as a child, but I don\u2019t recall the abundance of series fiction that leads to full bags every time I bring my middle son to the library. \u00a0And at the same time, while I\u2019m waiting for them, I\u2019ll sometimes leaf through the offerings \u2014 it seems as if, if it\u2019s not fantasy, the fiction on the new book shelves seems to always be about Big Issues: a death in the family, only hinted at in the book jacket description, or discrimination of some kind.)<\/p>\n

Bottom line: \u00a0reading can be an enjoyable way to pass the time. \u00a0But it\u2019s not magic.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s something I started typing up a while back; thought I\u2019d finish this as a distraction from the current unpleasantness in the news. Books and me go way back. My mom likes to tell the story that I\u2019d get in trouble at school for sneaking another book (and no, not the comic book of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIs a childhood love of reading crucial for success?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's something I started typing up a while back; thought I'd finish this as a distraction from the current unpleasantness in the news. 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