Category Archives: For Parents

Posts that address some of the questions and issues parents of readers may ask or have asked me about books and reading. Some resources too!

Educational Resource: PBS Parents

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I’ll be the first to admit that I am no expert in reading or in child development. I’ve always made it a priority to apportion some of my reading life to books and websites on education and reading. And now, in a more official position of being the librarian and children’s educator at Gracepoint Berkeley church, I plan on using this space to share resources I have found helpful, and hope they’ll be of use to parents, and adults who are working with our children.

PBSParentsEducationThe PBS website has a section for parents & education. In the Reading & Language section, they have a section of “Reading Milestones” broken down into Talking, Reading, Writing, and Activities/Games by age groups, starting from “Baby” to “Second-Third Grade.” They also have sections for Mathematics, Science, Learning Disabilities, Going to School, Music & Arts.

When parents ask me questions, I’m often synthesizing different tips I’ve read about and incorporated into my own reading philosophy. Rather than regurgitate what I’ve been reading on this site, I’ll refer you to just a few of the articles I have found helpful.

 

Three Strikes Against Arthur

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Having taught primarily in high school and then in middle school, I’m in a self-paced crash-course on books for younger readers. This summer at Gracepoint Berkeley church, I’ve been hosting different groups of kiddos for reading hour each day, and so I’ve been getting to know a lot of different picture books and books for early readers.

I received a generous donation of three big boxes of picture books, and among them were a bunch of Arthur books. Even the older kids got so nostalgic and would read and reread them. So I didn’t think too much about them.

I didn’t grow up reading Arthur books by Marc Brown, though apparently they’ve been around as long as I have. And I definitely didn’t watch Arthur episodes on PBS, because I was a senior in high school when they started airing. (Two clues about my age, which is actually no secret, but it’s fun to solve even the smallest puzzle!)

Last week I had the chance to read my first Arthur books. I read them with a particular 6-year-old boy on the T-Rex team (1st-2nd boys) at our Zootopia Summer Camp. I’m sad to report that each book got successively disappointing. Hence the title of this post. Here’s a recap:

ArthursThanksgiving

First up, Arthur’s Thanksgiving (1984). Arthur is in charge of the class Thanksgiving play, and he can’t find anyone to play the turkey. This is the main conflict, because as they state in the play, the whole point of Thanksgiving is turkey. Without turkey, there can’t be Thanksgiving.

The lesson: Arthur learns the skill of problem-solving in his leadership position, and he ends up doing whatever it takes to make sure the play goes on.

My beef: Maybe it’s my years of teaching inference, but the message of the play-within-the-book that Thanksgiving itself hinges on a turkey struck me as problematic. Nowhere in the book is there a mention of…giving thanks.

Strike 1.

ArthursChristmas

Next was Arthur’s Christmas (1985). While Arthur’s sister, DW, has a mile-long list of all the presents she wants, Arthur’s dilemma is trying to figure out what to get for Santa. Arthur figures out the “perfect” gift, which is rather funny, but DW realizes Santa might actually get repulsed by his gift, so she helps “solve” the problem.

The message: DW is a great sister, because she solves the problem in such a way to spare Arthur’s feelings from being hurt, and will still manage to get all her gifts from Santa.

My beef: I *think* we are meant to find Arthur’s focus on what to give rather than receive as admirable, but it’s stated too implicitly for a children’s book.  So what we are left with is the message that DW is thoughtful and even sacrificial. But she only does what she does because she wants presents from Santa. DW’s greed for presents is dealt with only tangentially and through a passing comment from Grandma when she visits.

Strike 2.

ArthursBirthday

Last but definitely not least, Arthur’s Birthday (1991). It’s Arthur’s 8th birthday (remember this fact — 8th) and he’s going to have a party. But it’s the same day as Muffy’s party. OH NO! Arthur figures out a way to solve this problem of two different parties going on at the same time.

The message: Oh, that Arthur. He’s so clever and so kind, that he figured out a way to include everyone!

My beef: Francine, one of Arthur and Muffy’s classmates, is super excited because they can play Spin-the-Bottle. (Quiz: how old is Arthur turning again?) In separate conversations during the rising action, the boys decide to just go to Arthur’s party, and the girls to Muffy’s, but the boys say, “It won’t be fun without the girls” and vice-versa.  And then the last page is Arthur opening one of his presents, and guess what it is? Yes, a bottle labeled “Francine’s Spin-the-Bottle Game” — yay!

Strike 3.

You might think I’m being too hard on Arthur, and they’re just cute stories after all. True, I’ve only read a few of the books. But my main problem is the Arthur books and television show are touted as educational, in the good PBS way. And they do educate, but what are they teaching? We need to be aware of the implicit messages our kids get from all media.

It’s subtle and might seem harmless enough, but I was surprised to find the 6-year-old boy I was reading the book with already knew what Spin-the-Bottle was. Even with limited screen time, our kids get all sorts of education from their friends, teachers, and just through walking around in our world. If you’re looking for books that are explicitly teaching lessons on how to treat other people (or the point of certain holidays), I recommend bypassing Arthur.

What’s your take on Arthur? Should I give him another chance? Did you read Arthur books or watch the show while growing up?

What books should my child be reading? (Part 1)

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backtoschoolIt’s one of my favorite times of the year — back to school! This is actually the first year I am not going back to school either as a teacher or a student, and as bummed though I may be, I am excited to celebrate the new school year by devoting posts to addressing questions parents at Gracepoint church ask me most frequently .

These questions often come in passing, while grabbing coffee or in the parking lot, but the answers require more than the 10-seconds we have. So I hope these posts will be helpful. Heads up, I’m going to put them under the category For Parents, so you can find them easily.

The first question is “What should my child be reading?” and it comes in various forms:

  • “Hey, my Reginald is going into 4th grade this year. What books should he be reading?”
  • “What should Maximilian be reading since he’s starting kindergarten? Do you have a list?”
  • “My Constance doesn’t want to read the good books, like classics. She only wants to read her fantasy books.”

My response is usually, “What does Reginald/Maximilian/Constance like to read?” That’s the super-simplified response, and what I’m proposing is a reframing of the question — to focus more on the reader, rather than the books.

If your child is school-aged, his or her teacher will be choosing books throughout the year they have determined to be appropriate or interesting for their class, and they will do a read-aloud or whole-class book study. In that way, your child will be reading some of the “should” books. And these reading experiences are powerful and necessary. But true love of reading is going to develop during your child’s independent reading life. And I believe the growing, thriving reading life is dependent on choice.

I want to encourage conversations with your child about books that he or she has enjoyed. Try to figure out what they liked about it. Was it because it was easy for them to read? Was it the type of story? Was it the pictures? And then you have some clues to help you in the adventure of finding the next book your child might be interested in reading. I always try to assure parents that it is definitely possible to find a book that will spark their interest. This is a great age in which to be a child or teen — there are so many awesome books out there. It’s not like “when I was young”! (you have to re-read that sentence in a granny voice!)

When I tell people I am was an English Language Arts teacher, one of the first questions is, “What books do you teach?” And I usually say, “I don’t teach books. I teach students.” Now, I know what people *mean* when they ask me, but you see my point. We often get stuck on lists of books, and, “Oh, you teach To Kill a Mockingbird in 9th grade? Isn’t that a 10th grade book?”

Don’t get me wrong; lists are helpful. And in fact, I’m going to provide lists for you all. But my lists are by themes/genres, so that you can find the book that your child will be interested in reading. I do have general age guidelines, but that’s mostly for thematic reasons (not unlike movie ratings).

I always try to get parents to think about books they loved when they were in school. What did you love about it? How did you find the book? Did you read it on your own or with your class? How did you respond when given a list of books you had to read? Did you ever re-read books? These are big questions that feed into a person’s reading life.

I know I’ve opened up a can of worms with this discussion, but I hope it will foster conversation. What questions do you have about your child and reading? I will do my best to group like questions and address them here.