Sunday, January 12, 2020
My seven-year-old, Mika, does not love to read. I have failed miserably as a parent, none of my three children have a passion for reading. Do not get me wrong, all three of my children like to read, but none of them are going to stay up until 2:00 a.m. because they must know what will happen to the book characters next. I need to accept my children all have their own desires and reading is not entertainment for them.
Yesterday, I pulled out two buckets of kid’s books when we were clearing out my shed. The books are various reading levels, so I want sort the books into two groups. Books that are most likely above Mika’s reading level and books that are near, at, or below her reading level. I am having Mika keep the below reading level books at this time in case she wants to select any of them for her Mika Rocks Reading YouTube series this summer. Today I tasked Mika with helping me to sort one of those buckets.
Mika’s older sister, Megan, is trying to help me instill a love of reading in Mika because Megan does really like to read, but she has mild dyslexia and reading is difficult for her. Megan will randomly tell Mika to read a book to her and last night she had Mika grab a book from the bucket Mika and I sorted today to read to her. Mika read the story to Megan before Mika went to bed.
When Mika picked up the book she read last night, she told me she wanted to donate the book. Mika would happily donate most of her books because then we would not be able to make her read so I looked at the book and told her to keep it. I told Mika The Three Little Pigs was a great story she could read for her YouTube series this summer. Mika looked at me and said she did not like this The Three Little Pigs book because it was not the “real” story. In this book the first two pigs died and did not run away to safety at the third pig’s house. How can you argue with that logic? The Three Little Pigs is now in a donate bucket.
Books are my weakness. I may skip after-Christmas and Black Friday shopping, I may not buy any new clothes for myself, but I am sure I will continue buying books until the day I die. I do not plan on downsizing my book stock much as I clear out all my clutter. My books are the one category of items I am happy to burden my family with after I pass. If I add in children’s books, I probably have 2,000 books in my house.
I love the way a book can transport me so completely to another reality. I love my reality and do not use books to escape, I simply love the experience a book gives me. I do not want to be in a spaceship or live on another planet, but I like to watch other people do so in my head. Reading a book is like watching a movie in my mind. I can see the dragon swooping down to attack the knight, I can see the magician casting fireballs. The movies in my mind are so much better than any movie I have ever seen on the big screen.
The movies in my head are why I am so disappointed that my children do not get the same thrill from reading I do. All three of my children have vivid imaginations so I know they could see the same kind of mind movies I do. My son did read all my books from one of the authors in my collection, but I could not get him to try any of the other authors in the same genre. Megan is not interested in the type of books I like to read and vice versa. I like wizards and spaceships; Megan likes personal development books.
That leaves Mika. Mika is very young and may yet develop a love for my books. I did not home in on science fiction and fantasy until junior high school. For now, one of Mika’s best friends loves fantasy books so I can encourage her to enjoy the movies in her head and lend her my books.
My piece of advice to you is to keep trying to share your passions. Perhaps one of my grandchildren I never get to meet will love to read; it might skip a generation.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
My seven-year-old, Mika, does not love to read. I have failed miserably as a parent, none of my three children have a passion for reading. Do not get me wrong, all three of my children like to read, but none of them are going to stay up until 2:00 a.m. because they must know what will happen to the book characters next. I need to accept my children all have their own desires and reading is not entertainment for them.
Yesterday, I pulled out two buckets of kid’s books when we were clearing out my shed. The books are various reading levels, so I want sort the books into two groups. Books that are most likely above Mika’s reading level and books that are near, at, or below her reading level. I am having Mika keep the below reading level books at this time in case she wants to select any of them for her Mika Rocks Reading YouTube series this summer. Today I tasked Mika with helping me to sort one of those buckets.
Mika’s older sister, Megan, is trying to help me instill a love of reading in Mika because Megan does really like to read, but she has mild dyslexia and reading is difficult for her. Megan will randomly tell Mika to read a book to her and last night she had Mika grab a book from the bucket Mika and I sorted today to read to her. Mika read the story to Megan before Mika went to bed.
When Mika picked up the book she read last night, she told me she wanted to donate the book. Mika would happily donate most of her books because then we would not be able to make her read so I looked at the book and told her to keep it. I told Mika The Three Little Pigs was a great story she could read for her YouTube series this summer. Mika looked at me and said she did not like this The Three Little Pigs book because it was not the “real” story. In this book the first two pigs died and did not run away to safety at the third pig’s house. How can you argue with that logic? The Three Little Pigs is now in a donate bucket.
Books are my weakness. I may skip after-Christmas and Black Friday shopping, I may not buy any new clothes for myself, but I am sure I will continue buying books until the day I die. I do not plan on downsizing my book stock much as I clear out all my clutter. My books are the one category of items I am happy to burden my family with after I pass. If I add in children’s books, I probably have 2,000 books in my house.
I love the way a book can transport me so completely to another reality. I love my reality and do not use books to escape, I simply love the experience a book gives me. I do not want to be in a spaceship or live on another planet, but I like to watch other people do so in my head. Reading a book is like watching a movie in my mind. I can see the dragon swooping down to attack the knight, I can see the magician casting fireballs. The movies in my mind are so much better than any movie I have ever seen on the big screen.
The movies in my head are why I am so disappointed that my children do not get the same thrill from reading I do. All three of my children have vivid imaginations so I know they could see the same kind of mind movies I do. My son did read all my books from one of the authors in my collection, but I could not get him to try any of the other authors in the same genre. Megan is not interested in the type of books I like to read and vice versa. I like wizards and spaceships; Megan likes personal development books.
That leaves Mika. Mika is very young and may yet develop a love for my books. I did not home in on science fiction and fantasy until junior high school. For now, one of Mika’s best friends loves fantasy books so I can encourage her to enjoy the movies in her head and lend her my books.
My piece of advice to you is to keep trying to share your passions. Perhaps one of my grandchildren I never get to meet will love to read; it might skip a generation.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.