Comments on: Reading to Small Children

By: Donna

Donna — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:41:42 +0000

Tim, probably my most cherished memories are the moments I shared with my kids as I read to them. When Tripp was still a little guy, he wanted me to start reading chapter books to him- so I did, just a little bit at a time. I will never forget the sunny afternoon when we were lying together in our big hammock. I read the last of “Where the Red Fern Grows.” Of course, I knew what was coming. But Tripp didn’t. Oh, how he cried. And then he said that the book was horrible because it was so terribly sad. We had such a great talk that day in the hammock- about how the story was actually quite wonderful in how it could make us feel so happy, and worried, and excited, and even sad. I miss those cuddly times. But you’d better believe that I read to my grandkids every chance I get!

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:56:20 +0000

Gentiana,

I hope you’re enjoying those times as much as I enjoyed them with the boys. Those memories are still fresh, all these years later.

Oscarandre,

I agree, but for some reason all of that doesn’t seem to have the impact that it should. Perhaps we just think our kids are going to be geniuses through some kind of magic, I don’t know. Then again, maybe what made the boys so smart were all those years of watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together. – Tim

By: Oscarandre

Oscarandre — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:35:23 +0000

Not withstanding the merits of reading to our children as you describe, Tim, the educational research on this is fairly unambigous too: there is probably no single activity that will have a greater impact on a child’s readiness and success in reading and learning than to read to them from a young age. It’s a winner which ever way you look at it (and now that the oppportunities are less, I kind of miss it)!

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:18:46 +0000

Tiffany,

It sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. That is very, very cool.

Jesse,

I understand what you’re saying. For quite awhile, we didn’t want to have anything to do with children, or worse, hang out with people who did, because all they wanted to do is talk about their kids. Funny how things change, because not long after that, it seemed like a great idea.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that becoming a Dad (someone reminded me that anybody with a Y chromosome can be a father, but it takes something more to be a Dad) has changed me more than any other single event in my life. I remember the moment I held my son for the first time thinking, “Wow… this changes EVERYTHING.” – Tim

By: Mad Scientist

Mad Scientist — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:34:25 +0000

That’s so strange. I was on the BART (public transportation out here in the San Francisco Bay area) yesterday and saw a guy with his daughter (she couldn’t have been 5), and she was all sorts of hyped up about reading. She’d point to ANYTHING that looked like it had symbols on it, and he’d read three words off to her at a time, then wait for her to recite them as he pointed to them. It really got me thinking about what being a parent is really all about (I have no children of my own, and have no plans to change that).

As for my own childhood, my parents read to me all the time. I can actually remember the 6th time my father read The Hobbit to me, and every time it was a little different from the time before. Now that I can appreciate just how bad my father’s voices for the characters were, I appreciate them even more.

By: tiffanytaylor

tiffanytaylor — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:51:34 +0000

My kids and I love the Berenstain Bears books!

>>try intentionally changing some of the story in a ridiculous and surprising way >>

Recently my almost-13-year-old son, who devours novels and is particularly fond of books and movies that are scary, creepy, gross, or all three, decided that for a couple of nights he wanted me to read to him — something I haven’t done for at least a couple of years. I dug out a few favorites from his much younger days: a beatifully illustrated version of Rapunzel, a funny story about an old witch, and so on.

Now, I’ve always been one to throw in a silly plot twist, just to see if my kids were paying attention. And this time, with him being so much older and having such … interesting tastes in literature, I had a wonderful time. New characters with bizarre names entered the scene, with evil intent. Characters died unexpected and gruesome deaths. Any time I can make my almost-teen laugh that hard, I figure I’m doing something right.