I was pretty zonked out on New Years Day after making a very, very, veeeery early airport run. So after watching The Rose Bowl Parade [yes... all entry and exit ramps particular to my offspring's life were duly noted, as was his city's float entry], I watched (off & on) a day long "Twilight Zone" retrospective on SciFi.
I was pretty excited to see a few episodes that had loomed large in my childhood. I had loooved this show as a child! My friends and I used to actually sit around "story-telling" favorite episodes. [Do kids "story-tell" with each other any more?] We were forever writing and producing plays, "story-telling" and publishing newspapers constructed from our own stories. We were "wordy" kids. We played with language.
Anyway, after a while I caught myself beginning to squirm half way through an episode. I would become impatient and want them to "get on with it". I began to analyze WHAT was making me so squirmy. And then it hit me - it was the abundance of words and the absence of action and visual stimulation!
What incredibly dense, wordy scripts were written back then! They were full of questions and ideas to get you thinking - which is why I think my friends and I spent so much time discussing them. I realized that after years of having been exposed to "action" movies, special effects and witty one-liner TV comedies, I couldn't hold still any more to listen... to consider... to imagine... to think.
7 comments:
When watching tv, or movies it is funny to see how long a scene lasts. about 30-40 seconds tops...the music changes and bam it is something new...keeping your attention and eating your mind!! :)
even the news jumps quickly to keep you interested in what is going on. don't touch that dial it will be new again in 20 seconds!
who needs to think "they" do it for you!
There are things you can do to encourage concentration and time spent reading. Doug, your bedtime reading rule is one idea. Beth, your idea to limit childhood TV watching, particularly those of the (alas...) Sesame St. type - quick subject/scene changes, which have been shown to actually lower concentration levels in children! Establishing a DAILY reading time (20 min./half hour/hour, depending on your child's age, etc.) works well, too.
One of my fave books, Jim Trelease's "The Read Aloud Handbook", should be in every parent's /grandparent's library. He reports about schools that instituted "reading time" for the last 20 minutes of the school day. Children were instructed to have their book available ahead of time. What happened was absolutely amazing! At first the kids wiggled, squirmed and complained, but within a short amount of time they became so engrossed in their books that they CONTINUED to read them as they filed out of the school and onto the school buses! Not only did these schools dramatically improve their reading scores [in ONE year!], but the discipline problems decreased substantially on the buses! And we're talking only 20 minutes a day!
Another idea is "family reading time". Do your kids see YOU reading regularly. Read along with them for that 20 min/half hour a day.
Thanks to the Bookmobile, I was a HUGE reader IN school, but we were not allowed to take books home, nor did we have books at home in my family. I became a "home reader" when I got into high school and discovered the Library in the Town where I had to travel to attend HS. I hung out there waiting for my Mom to get out of work and pick me up. I'd participate in sports after school, then go to the Library. To this day I actually feel excited when I "smell" a library! The Internet is great... but I like BEING in a Library!
Oh yeah, another idea - I used to have Beth and Tim tell stories about what was happening in a piece of classical music we would listen to in the car while driving somewhere. Beth would make up these elaborate stories and Tim's would ALWAYS devolve into "guys fighting". ;) Sort of like the FBC boys' skits at snow camp where everyone always ended up dead. ;)
Btw, I was told that the Murrays-Morbys received a copy of 9 yrl old Liza's (loooong) story [via email]while everyone was home for the holidays. While everyone sat around and watched, Andy had his wife read Liza's story while he & Robb acted it out for everyone. I would have loooved to have seen that! See... it doesn't matter how old you are, you can STILL have fun with language!
[PS I bet they STILL all died in the end! ;)]
Well...reading isn't my thing...I am saying that far away from you Deb! Phil lives to read ok, he doesn't live to read but he is always in a book. Most of the kids love reading and being read to except for one...I won't mention her name! she struggles with it, we have encouraged her to read she jsut isn't interested. I was very much the same way and I came from a family of readers!! It is just one of those things, I may be alone in stating this but I don't feel that you can force someone to enjoy reading! It isn't just up until recently that I have been reading just for the fun of it. She sees me reading all the time too, it just isn't her thing.
Now, please don't hate me for saying all that!! ;)
Put down the remote and step away.
Kids may be different, but just because they have difficulty as a child certainly doesn't mean they will NEVER enjoy reading.
My two were a study in opposites. When they were young T. was the reader. He had more stickers, T shirts, stars, etc. from the Library than you can imagine.
My oldest struggled with school in her early years. She ALSO took books out every week, read the first page and then buried them under her bed. I don't think she FINISHED a book till HS.
Then two things happened - her brain matured and she got a really good English teacher. You never know what maturation and the right stimulation can do.
Besides, this post was more about our culture in general. We're NOT as wordy as we used to be! The average vocabulary is NOT what it once was! People DON'T communicate as well as they used to. And I DO think TV has contributed its part to that decline.
And besides, Jen... I haven't given up on you yet! ;)
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