Have We Lost Our Reading Culture?

Nearly everywhere I go, I take a book.  In fact, I choose my purses based on if they are big enough to fit a book or my Kindle inside.  Reading has been an escape, a comfort, and a passion since I was a child.

As a homeschooling family, reading is what we do.  We read a lot.  My step-daughter never loved reading.  When she began homeschooling after years and years of public school, I think she was surprised at all the books she was assigned.  Before she graduated, she read more than she ever had.  

Lately, I have noticed that I don’t read as much as I have in the past.  Yes, I am reading for college, but I also noticed that my go to is not picking up the book.  I am usually simply scrolling away on social media.  This is a bad habit that is pointless most of the time.  It’s amazing how often I’ll grab my phone and click the Facebook or Instagram button before I even engage my brain.  Habits form easily, especially addicting ones.

If I’m not mindlessly scrolling, I’m mindlessly vegging in front of a television.  After working for hours on college courses, I tend to turn on a favorite tv show and passively pass the hours engaged in a crime drama.  Sadly, I have seen most of the shows numerous times and am binging on reruns on Netflix. 

I’m not alone in any of this. The average American watches five hours of television per day!  If we combine television viewing, gaming, smart phones, tablets, computers, and any other screens, the average American devotes ten hours and thirty-nine minutes to screen time every day!

It stands to reason that we aren’t reading because we are distracted by entertainment.

What else are we not doing when we are drowning in our screens?  Are we spending time with our loved ones?  Are we spending time with God?  It stands to reason that devoting ten hours a day to anything is going to have consequences.  Maybe our relationships are suffering because we are otherwise absorbed in our screens instead of being together.  Maybe we have become Biblically illiterate because we buy Bibles, and place them on our shelves.  We aren’t reading them. 

Why is it that twenty-one percent of U.S. adults read below a fifth grade level?  My ten year old is in the fifth grade.  This statistic means that 21% of the adults around me are reading at the level of my ten year old...  or worse, because she is an advanced reader.

I love the podcast, Read Aloud Revival.  Sarah MacKenzie, the host and author of the blog by the same name, has breathed fresh air into the importance of reading to our children.  Recently she hosted a podcast discussing tips and ideas for moms to find time to read for themselves.  There were plenty of reasons why this is important, but the number one reason was that, when a child sees parents reading for enjoyment, they will likely follow suit. 

If the average American is glued to a screen for over ten hours a day, chances are we aren’t modeling anything except our addiction to screens.  We certainly aren’t reading to our children like we could or should.  And we aren’t growing the active parts of our own brains by vegging in front of the Boob Tube or mindlessly scrolling through the same ole Facebook battles and food posts. 

I won’t even get into what this sedentary life does to our health.

And so, when countries are listed in order of how much they read, and we see that the United States is way down the list at number 23, the fight over how to improve the school systems seems self-explanatory.  There is nothing better we could do for our children than to read to them and make reading a priority for our children.  The list of benefits is remarkable!  

“I don’t like to read.”

Ah...  I have heard that often.  And I understand that reading isn’t everyone’s favorite activity.  This has come about because the purpose behind reading has changed.  Two hundred years ago, learning to read was important.  And not just learning to read, but being literate and informed.  Learning to read meant that you could study the Bible.  Learning to read meant you could learn anything you desired to learn.  Reading was important.  It was how people stayed informed of the news in the world.  There wasn’t a television with thousands of channels to tell you what was happening (or to sensationalize for ratings).  There were books and newspapers. 

Somehow, reading has been relegated to a hobby, instead of a way to grow the brain and learn about the world, we simply turn on the screen and have those that profit most from those screens tell us what to think.  Then we wonder why the world is in the condition it is, and how to stop the chaos. 

Reading promotes multiculturalism.  Those that read are more empathetic.  Reading increases attention.  

I wish our culture was a reading culture, but I can’t change an entire culture.  I can only influence the world around me. I can read to my daughter.  I can make it my habit to grab a book instead of my smart phone.  I can supply my home with a wide array of books and plenty of trips to the library.  I can encourage my other children in their reading and have them read engaging and God-honoring books and materials for school.  

I can promote reading to others.  I can share the works of Sarah MacKenzie and Jim Trelease and others that are telling the benefits of this amazing reading culture that our families can have.  I can continue that work by training to work in a library, as I am doing now.  This way, when my homeschooling days are complete, I am still working to promote this wonderful passion: reading.

Dear Jesus...

Dear Jesus,

Lord, could you bless that girl above?  Could you heal her?  I know, I know, I have asked many times.  Seems we've been in this place in the past.  I know that, if I waited until I was perfect or she was perfect before asking, I would never ask.  But You are perfect. You alone, and Your thoughts are higher and Your plans are good.  So, when the hard happens... again...  when life doesn't make sense...  again...  when a young woman is sick and has been sick for so long and it's a battle every day to keep going, we need You.  We need Your good.  We need Your peace.  We need Your hope.

I have pleaded for answers for a long time.  Answers were supposed to come after one of the myriad of tests ran in the last year.  Answers were supposed to come with relief and praise report, not another battle and more questions.

I would so take her place.  I always would have.  I keep telling myself that I won't drive myself crazy asking why.  But there are weak moments when I do.  Why do I have children that face life-threatening issues?  Why my family?  Why my daughter, so ill, with tubes and monitors and pain and fear?  So, the "whys" circle in my brain and I push them down. I cast them aside, and they come back.  I turn on praise and worship music that calls you the anchor in the "eye of the storm", the "King of the World", "my God through all of it."  

What I feel the most, as uncertainty and frustration flow through me, is how broken I am, how weak, how utterly helpless to help my child, and how desperate.  Can the weak be used?

"Now I'm just a beggar in the presence of a King.  

I wish I could bring so much more.
But if it's true You use broken things
Then here I am Lord, I'm all Yours."

But I am so flawed. I think thoughts that aren't fair to others.  Such as...  Do other parents know how blessed they are?  Do they see their children, their healthy children, and know how precarious that health can be?  One diagnosis, one doctor that wasn't properly trained, one "rare complication;" and it can all change.  Lord, forgive me for seeing other parents with healthy children, hearing them complain over the trivial, and being frustrated with them... and perhaps envying them a little.

I so love my children.  I don't know why You chose my girls to face what they face. I can't see the final tapestry, only the tangles and knots on the back. I can't make sense out of what seems senseless, especially since it probably won't be made clear while we are here on this earth.  I'm just a mom, begging once again for her child to be made whole.  

Each time I beg, I step with You.  More than once I have begged for them to live, sitting on the side of a hospital bed, a bleak diagnosis from a doctor ringing in my ears.  Every time you have given me my child.  And despite feeling frustrated with parents who don't realize they are so blessed, I also wouldn't wish any parent to feel that heart-aching, paralyzing fear for their child.

Yes, there are a lot of "I"s in this.  My apologies, Jesus, for I know the focus should be on You. 

See...  I understand the temptation to walk away, to be so crushed with heartache or fear that you feel abandoned.  I understand the anger coursing through the veins at the injustice of it all.  I understand those that question, but haven't had all props removed with only You left to lean on and cling to.  So even as I cry out, begging, weak and small, I have found You in this place before, and believe You will meet me here again. 

I pray for my child, not me. I pray for answers.  I pray for strength.  I pray for healing.  Most of all, I pray because...  is there any hope without You?  

My Daughter is in Fifth Grade... Sorta

"What grade are you in?"


This question is the one asked the most to children.  It is a sense of pride for children to say at the end of the year, "I'm no longer a fourth (or first or second or whatever) grader, and I am now a fifth (second, third, etc) grade.  When I am asked, or my daughter is asked, what grade she is in, we say what she would be in if she was in public school.

But homeschooling often doesn't work like public school.  In public school, standards are set for all children to meet in a certain age range.  There are children on the high end of the grade range that meet the standards easily.  There are children on the low end of the grade that struggle to meet the standards.  Fall outside of these "standards" and you will receive a label.  If you can't meet the standards, you will receive a "Learning Disabled" label.  If you can easily meet the standards and maybe move on to the next set of standards, you will receive the label of "advanced" or "gifted."  The truth is probably more mixed.  A child may have a natural aptitude in certain areas, but struggle in others. 

My seventeen year old will have met the standards for the state we live in, the standards most colleges would want to see, and the standards I have set for my child, to graduate high school this spring.  In all her years of homeschooling, I don't believe she was ever in a single grade in every subject.  She was all over the place.  She would do well in one subject and advance quickly, but struggle in another.  I would switch curriculum, and she would find the way it was structured made things worse.  I would find something else, and she would do extremely well for awhile.  She made odd progressions at times.  It took me a long time to realize that she is perfectly normal and this is how most children learn.  They make slow progress for awhile, struggle a bit, then make a leap ahead. 

Homeschooling offers the chance for students to receive an education tailored just for them.  When the areas of struggle come up, most homeschool students can simply slow down the lessons, or even forgo that subject briefly, until they understand.  Sometimes the brain just has to mature to be ready to master the material.  Sometimes it is just an area where the child needs extra practice to master the lesson.  Either way, the child should never be made to feel as if there was something wrong with him or her.

In other areas the child can move at the pace where they stay challenged, moving quickly through material they easily understand.  This has happened to my children often.  One summer my youngest daughter jumped over a year in her reading level simply due to summer reading.  When we began the school year, she sat down and read her entire phonics and reading curriculum in less than a week.  I didn't have to keep her at a lower reading level or put her through a phonics program she didn't need.  We just moved forward.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the years is to choose materials where a child can make steady progress without the burden of grade levels.  Yes, grade levels are a burden.  The math program that we are using has grade levels, but I choose to simply call them levels.  It is an advanced program, and no one was more surprised than me that my daughter prefers this program.  So, instead of worrying about "grade level," we are just making our way through the lessons at a steady pace.  First of all, the grades on the cover of the books don't match up with American grade levels, or a child wouldn't finish level six and be ready for Algebra.  I am supplementing with Life of Fred for a different approach to math that is more story-based.  This is working for her, this slow and steady pace that puts emphasis on the basics.

The reading and grammar we use is similar.  I have chosen to use the McGuffey readers for my children.  The steady progress goes from learning to read to college-level vocabulary and sentence structure in six books.  However, these books aren't the same as any six books.  These books are power punches for the brain.  They aren't dumbed-down.   We literally go through a lesson or two a week, with daily work in whatever lesson she is studying.  We don't just read the lesson.  We copy parts of the writing.  We look up the definitions of the vocabulary words.  We draw pictures.  We look up extra facts in some of the lessons.  It takes at least two years to get through a McGuffey reader properly.  Oh, and I base the readers on writing levels, not reading levels, because my advanced reader is learning sentence structure and proper grammar with each lesson, not simply reading a story.

I have a different grammar program we are also using.  It is such a gentle program, was free through Google books, and focuses on writing before introducing grammar.  It is wonderful!  My ten year old loves it!  Occasionally I add in some workbook pages from a grammar program that I bought, to give a little more time in certain concepts and add in more practice.  It isn't needed for every child, but I wanted the extra practice for my little leftie.

I am learning so much recently about how to set up a gradual learning program.  In this system, grade levels don't really matter.  I don't worry about what other fifth graders are doing at the local public school.  In most areas, my daughter is ahead of them.  In a few areas, she might be on the same level.  Even if she was behind, if she is progressing, does it matter?  What tends to happen is that a child will make slow, steady progress for a long time, and then suddenly jump in skill level.  It's like the brain suddenly hits a growth spurt, like a child does in height, and makes quick advances.

I stumbled upon this quote this morning.  "Omit grade levels.  Each student should simply move seamlessly up the road of knowledge at whatever rate of progress his abilities and study habits permit.  Grade levels have become a means by which student achievement is normed to public school academic levels.  Children should not be deprived of the chance for a superb education by subjecting them to the failed standards of the public schools."  - Art Robinson of Robinson Curriculum

 I find a freedom in this idea, this belief that grade levels are truly arbitrary.  I'm not alone either.  I have found that other homeschooling moms share my belief.

http://momdelights.com/index.php/2016/06/01/escape-the-slavery-of-grade-levels-printable/

http://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2017/03/without-grade-levels.html

https://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/homeschooling-grade-levels-relax/


Even public schools are beginning to see that "grade levels" don't matter as much as learning and mastering material.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/say-goodbye-fifth-grade-k-12-schools-test-competency-based-learning/

More Reading, Less Lessons

Books...  they are the backbone of our homeschool.  I might need a break once in awhile, and give my girls some workbooks.  But books have been the main tool of our school.

I returned to college last semester.  I was never taught how to do MLA and APA papers.  It wasn't a "thing" when I was in high school...  or college.  But I learned how, and I learned quickly.  I had some classes that wanted papers written in MLA format.  I had other classes that insisted on APA.  With multiple papers due, it was learn fast or flunk. I learned fast.

My children need the ability to do this.  They need the ability to look at information, to read the knowledge, and use that knowledge in the way that is appropriate.  I learned to write papers in two different forms in a couple weeks because I read the chapters in the English book that talked about these formats, and then I applied that knowledge.  No, it wasn't simple at first.  I had my grown daughters that have been in college in the last few years check my first few papers to ensure I was not making errors.

We are four weeks into this school year and the year has been a fight with me and my youngest daughter.  She is smart, but is very distracted.  I planned and planned this year.  She is ADHD, and we have always worked around it in the past.  This year she is struggling like I have never seen her struggle.  It's like trying to get her to see clearly through mud.

And I am working on my college courses also.

But then I remembered that I am probably putting too much on myself.  My girl loves to read and is normally quite happy.  She loves to be creative and is always singing.  Maybe I'm trying too hard, expecting too much. 

Knowledge comes in books. I know this.  We are a reading homeschool.  And yet, when stressed, I cut her books.  What?!  I gave her more workbooks?  What was I thinking?

Workbooks have their place and, in moderation, can be an asset to homeschool.  But I want my daughter reading.  She learns so much from reading.  She jumped multiple reading levels after first grade because she read all summer.  She will spend hours writing down facts and drawing pictures, all based on what she is reading in her books.  When given the chance, she is self-taught. 

And so, I spent the last couple of days logging book after book into an Excel spreadsheet with titles, authors, and reading levels.  They are listed by reading level.  I have a couple lists going, actually.  One list is books I want her to do that have accompanying curriculum that I feel supplements nicely.  The other list is books...  old, new, Kindle, print.  Some I own.  Some I will have to purchase.  Some will be borrowed from the library.  The list is, currently, over three hundred books.  This in no way is a comprehensive list, however, including every book from every level.  

It is a mix of old and new.  I have some Robinson curriculum choices, my Heart of Dakota selections, some others I have purchased over the years, and some recommendations from various sources.  On Monday, she will have some assignments, and then she will read.  I want her reading from my lists, with some time for her to read what she wants.  Then, she will have time to delve into her own interests.  

My format is simple...  reading, writing, math, personal.  She will have a LOT of reading time.  Right now her writing consists of copywork, vocabulary, dictation, with Grammar and some creative writing.  She will write more as she gets older.  She will have math.  Right now I have her math time split into two half hour segments.  That seems to be working.  She doesn't get as tired in two shorter sessions than she did in one long session.  Finally, she will have personal time, for piano lessons, music and art, and free reading. 

That is it.  She focuses well she. She is reading.  So, I'm going to give her reading time with lots of breaks.  My little wiggled needs to move, so she can move.  I need her to learn, and the materials I am using will help.  

Knowledge, true knowledge, comes from books and experiences. No one lives life in a bubble.  My daughter still interacts with her world.  She is a social little buttlerfly.  Her brain may be maturing at a different rate than others, and I need to be able to work with her, not feel at odds with her all the time.  

Science shows that the ADHD brain develops and matures a little slower than others her own age.  I do t want her to think she is a problem.  And yet, I have felt that way often the last couple weeks.  And I realized that I was causing more damage than good with my attitude.  Ironically, it was a fellow college student that unintentionally helped me.

We have discussion boards every week, since I'm taking online classes.  One student in my major was homeschooled.  We were discussing the value of libraries.  He stated that he spent his middle school years in his local public library, reading all the time.  He said it was the best education ever because he was given that time to dig into his interests and to live in other worlds.  

Yep, that is what I want for my children.  

And so, I am relaxing.  Yes, there is math and grammar.  There is writing.  But I want my daughter to fall in love with learning.  I want her to be able to learn whatever she needs to learn when she needs to learn it, as I did with writing papers.  That skill comes from learning how to learn, from digging into her interests and escaping into worlds with heros that show how to solve problems.  

So much comes from reading!  The brain of a reader receives many benefits.  Vocabulary grows.  Thought processes differ.  Readers even develop more empathy.  Language skills are boosted, but so are math skills!

So many literature based homeschool programs have touted the benefits of reading.  And yet, when I planned school, I didn't olacethe focus on literature this year.  In wanted well-rounded.  But it is clearly not working as I planned.  Then I read a quote that basically stated that there is a costnfor everything.  If you try to do it all, you won't do anything well.  

I knew this in my personal life, but didn't apply it to my homeschool.  At this time, when I'm trying to complete college classes as well as homeschool, it requires being selective.  I need to be able to balance all the balls in the air. 

I am praying this will be an answer.