Seeing children read books speaks of a worthwhile hobby. Well, it expands the information gathered but comprehension is another thing. Some read fast but what about retention and recall. Reading is more than just the information gathered. It is also synthesis of collected facts. Relating the concept read with another concept, idea or thought is something learned. Are they able to connect the nuances and find meaning in it? Discriminate reading means the capacity to read without being influenced by what you read. To achieve a certain balance and freedom of thought and judgment is not common but possible. How many readers have I seen who argues with what he is reading. When the general proposition of a paper is to present a thought. There are some who cannot stop reacting to what one is reading.
To follow a thought is different from getting drowned in it. Active reading is when you interact and yet remain objective.
Reading takes more than words, word salad, or a concoction of words mixed with thoughts and emotions. The book that you read also talks back to you. As if the writer is right in front of you.
Appropriate reading is when you deliver the topic that best suits your reader. Intelligence and maturity are two different thing that most parents tend to forget or is it?
Sometimes, children who read adult books are praised for the speed of reading and comprehension. Of course, most parent would take pride with how advanced a child can read but is it the appropriate theme. Is the child reading for her self-growth or is this girl reading for the mother? Not all children will start to read at the same time. There is this thing as age range. It is just a chronological approximation but not necessarily precise as to when reading starts. To read covers a lot of skills. Mental skills such as focus, concentration, comprehension, language and understanding plays a vital role in reading. Phonetics, vocabulary and culture influences reading.
A healthy balance between outdoor play and reading is necessary to develop a mature and intelligent child.
In children to early teenagers, reading must be checked by the parent, you would want to be missed out by your child. The material must resonate the inner child. To provide a sense of joy for the reader and not create confusion. Young children and early teens need proper guidance because the books that they read molds the soul and the intelligence of the child.
Having taught grade school from grades one to four is fun. I enjoyed reading stories with them. Here are some books that may interest you as a parent or perhaps as a teacher like me.
Grade school is a wonderful time. Learning is by doing. Lead children to discover the beauty around them and not to speculate. To immerse oneself in experiencing first. Outline and enumeration kills the capacity to form mental images. Pre-empting finding the truth by giving the answers curtails the capacity to think. Exploring gives the child the chance to discover, experience awe and explore in amazement waiting for form to emerge. The capacity to visualize is a faculty to nurture from childhood. Allowing things to become – is requisite to developing a non-judgmental attitude or over controlling behaviour
In grade one the child is connected with the world around him. The child is not yet able to distinguish himself from things around him.
“My grandmother used to care for a beautiful garden. I remember the all the names of each of the flowers. Auntie Jane would tell a story for each flower that nourished my love for nature and splendid gardens. This little crimson blossom is adorns the hair of a Pixie and she uses it as hat.”
Stories for class one must nourish the imaginative powers for visualization. Nature stories are a great way to orient them with colours, sizes, shapes and smell. It grounds them to space by seeing common flowers and trees. Nature stories must give exact information and not a distortion of truth. The only difference is introducing something through artistic mental pictures and describing them in creative words
Reading for children is to school the imagination. Rational judgment and logic is for High school when introduced early on in childhood stifles the capacity to imagine. The balanced and rational mind is summoned from an older child. While most adults find it impressive for young
children to talk tall. It is better to allow the child to be child first after all you will have the rest of your life being an adult.
I would recommend the following books which I used as a teacher: The book of Fairy Princess, The King Beetle – Tamer, The seven year old Wonder Book – all by Isabel Wyatt. Depending on your medium of instruction in school, language used at home and the child’s command of the language. Selected Grimm’s faerie tale is a great story. But please not the distorted modern version. It does not carry the right metaphor. Faerie stories must be stories neither saturated with dogma of whatever and no moralizing yet. That is too heavy for the child. Reading must nourish positive emotions. Introducing faerie tales does not mean encouraging belief in such but in the hearts and minds of the child everything is connected. The capacity to metamorphose from one form to the next is a character form in faeries stories. That means in the line of thinking – it hones flexible thinking and the capacity to his connect thoughts or connect with the imaginative thoughts of his peers. I remember a common expression “Align” or “Connect” which literally means message captured.
Books are like rainbow bridges!!
Grade two, a fancy for repetition and the polarities of good and evil. The archetypes of good and bad. Of consequences for bad actions. Good rises above culture, tradition, religion and race. Presenting characters who exemplify Virtues must cross all borders to foster an ideal good is not limited to or limited by. It helps the child to perceive goodness in everything. In teaching my class I used saint stories from all religions, from different countries to illustrate that “good is present in the world”. I used Stories of the Saints as retold by Siegwart Knijpenga, Desert Saints, and Specific Saints from other religions – are stories of common people who were able to show extraordinary acts of goodness, kindness, courage and the rest of the desired virtues. I focused on the good deed and presented them in a simple way. I introduced my class to KING of Ireland’s son by Padraic Collum, a story that shows courage, determination and relentless spirit. Bits of Celtic wonder tales, transported my class to a time somewhere. Granny’s Wonderful chair by Frances Browne is a story that focus on inner strength, resourcefulness in the midst of difficulties and the ability to withstand challenges. Animal stories using selected stories from Bedtime with Buddha and selected Faerie tales from Eastern Europe stretched their imagination for a sense of fairness and justice. Provided balance in thoughts by presenting selected stories from Jataka, Japanese cultures, and Hindu stories. To nurture their enthusiasm for repetition I picked stories that have short verses that children can repeat at certain parts during storytelling. Fables come in handy to introduce the notion of a certain permanence. Change as a result of an evil deed gives an irreversible concrete outcome. Though redemption from ones act is given accountability dawns upon the doer. All these stories are given to provide a basis for universal Goodness, Love and truth. To imprint upon the souls a resonance of what is Universal.
Grade three is the time to orient in time and space. Of finding one’s origin. Stories from Africa, The house above the trees by Ethel Cook Eliot. Lights along the Path is a Jewish Folklore annotated, selected and retold by Rebecca Schacht, M.A. and the Creation Stories and the Old Testament stories of the Bible. Still continued with faerie tales from Russia and Czech. The names upon the Harp by Marie Heaney is Irish myth and Legend
Grade four is transition age. The Norse Mythology was received with much delight. The Filipino Mythology was also introduced in a simple and lighter manner. . Some Alamat about plants and animals from the Philippines is a favourite theme half of it was told in grade two. At this point the child is now able to recognize the imperfection of the teacher. The Gods in the Norse Myths were not perfect. It resonates the reality in which the child is in.
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Maria Lourdes de Vera, RN is the award winning author and artist of the book “Arts and the Creation Stories” She is a licensed to teach grade school and High school. Dedicated to the cause of nurturing the Arts in children; Marielou recommends the use of Arts in the care of Special Children. She believes in a worthy cause for the advancement of Children’s welfare.
L’ Arche is an International Federation of communities which welcome people with mental handicaps. Marielou supports its Local affiliate “ANG ARKO NG PILIPINAS, INC.” sharing her art works with the Foundation and soon find time to do creative artistic works with the children. PUNLA is a community for the severely handicapped located in Rizal, Philippines.