Learning to read and taking a new adventure...

My kids are in kindergarten and they are learning to read. They are officially learning how to decode the lines, squiggles and dots that we have arbitrarily given sounds; so that they can pronounce and read the words that we have arbitrarily assigned meaning. I mean, really, why does the thing that goes and says “vroom” have to be called a car. Why can’t it be a “coche” or “voiture” or even a “gobox”. (Yes, I made up the word “gobox”, but I did it on purpose, to prove a point.) . Further, why do the sounds have to be shaped like that? Why can’t “SH” look like ש? It does in Hebrew. It’s all arbitrary. We’ve been practicing with low level books and with the sight word cards provided by the teachers. We’ve also been supplementing the phonics based education they have been receiving for the last few years in preschool. 

 

For many, teaching their kids to read in an academic event. They think about report cards and grade level appropriate tasks. They think about how well their child will be able to complete higher level tasks in school and in the world. I, however, have a slightly different perspective. It’s not that I don’t see my kids as needing to feel intellectually confident in their world. I do see that as important. It’s just that I see this goal as a secondary goal for reading. 

For me, the primary goal of reading is to have unlimited adventures, information and creativity at your fingertips. For me, reading is not a task. Reading is privilege. It’s too cold and rainy to play outside? No worries. Pick up your book and read about a tropical island while you sip your hot chocolate. Let your mind go where your body can’t. Don’t know something and feel like you should? No worries. Research it and write your own story or report using that information as a foundation. Feeling frustrated that somebody doesn’t understand your point of view or simply need to transmit information to another person? No worries, write them a note. 

Words, on paper (or screen, as it may be) are power. They are imagination. They are information. They are access to a larger and more complex world, both fictional and actual. I suppose I need to take into account that I am 1) a highly uncompetitive person and 2) a writer. This most certainly impacts my position on this matter. That said, I imagine most child caring adults get a thrill from watching their children be creative and interesting. My kids, for quite some time now, have been drawing pictures and dictating the accompanying story to me. We have even laminated and bound (ok, taped together) a few of them for our bookshelf. I can’t wait until they can complete the drawing and picture independently. I can already see their faces when they come bursting into the room, book in hand, insisting that I stop what I’m doing and be read to. 

I can’t wait to see what impact reading has on my children’s already fantastic imaginations. They may actually change the world. Imagine that.