How Parents and Grandparents can "Spark Joy" in Reading for Reluctant Readers - Part 3

How Parents and Grandparents Can Help their Reluctant Reader be a 

Joyful Reader 

14 Low Tech, Common Sense, Old School Tips & Career Suggestions

by Willette Coleman ©2019

The author shares techniques she has used and personal anecdotes that reveal much about reluctant readers 

 

Last 3 of 14 “CAN DO” Suggestions

See suggestions 1 through 7 in PART 1.
See suggestions 8 through 11 in PART 2.

12. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) programs go a loooong way in organically encouraging reluctant readers to read, while stimulating their imagination and creativity.  STEM and STEAM (I prefer STEAM because of the “Arts” component.), essentially, are Project Based Learning (PBL), hands-on initiatives that encompasses a high degree of sensory processing – from reading, visualization, math and coding, to taking notes from information given by an instructor or a teacher, books, videos and the Internet - all of which facilitates meaningful, actively engaging and iterative learning.

 

·        Parents and grandparents can inquire whether the school their reluctant reader attends offer either of these programs – in school or after school  - which can inspire reluctant readers to aspire to be innovative inventors.  For example, students in Maryland’s Prince George County designed and engineered unique sports gear for their classmates with disabilities.  (See types of engineers here.)  Virginia Tech graduate, Ginai Seabron chose a STEM/STEAM-related career in nanoscience.  Two outstanding STEM programs are WiseYoungBuilders.org, in Washington, DC and MetroStemWarriors.org, in Maryland.  Berkeley, California has Girls Garage, a design and building program for girls 9 to 17.

·        Parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader can watch STEM or STEAM programs on Public Broadcasting Stations’ (PBS) Dragonfly-TV and Xploration Station’s natureknowsbest.com.  These shows kindle curiosity and “spark joy” in reading.  In a dragonfly-tv episode, teens constructed a boat from discarded milk cartons, sat in the boat and sat sail.  It didn’t sink.  In another episode, two tween boys investigated how reducing, reusing, recycling helps the environment. 
 

·        Parents, grandparents and reluctant readers can find a broad selection of STEM and STEAM activities and books here.  Also, thousands of college scholarships are available for high school students focusing on STEM/STEAM careers.  

13. Encourage writing.  Parents and grandparents can take helping their reluctant reader be a joyful reader a step further by ~

·        Searching for outlets where their reluctant reader can post or publish a book review after finishing a book.  Numerous platforms include goodreads.com and/or online book retailers; their high school print or online newsletter or newspaper; her or his twitter account.  Writing reviews about books could motivate a reluctant reader to go ahead and read the book on the “required reading list” that they didn’t want to read (discussed in Part 1), and writing a decent (albeit dreaded) book report.  Since juveniles have a habit of criticizing nearly every little thing, their review could discuss “Why I don’t like this book.”  At least they would have read it.
 

·        Reluctant readers can create an online magazine or an online book club where subscribers or members in their age group can post their own book reviews, as well as exchange opinions through comments. 
   

·        Journaling or Poetry.  Parents and grandparents can encourage their reluctant reader to keep a journal of things going on in his or her life or feelings, or write poems, or both.  Journaling could lead to a career in journalism.  For example, if your reluctant reader has an interest in the culinary industry, he or she might consider food journalism (also called “food critic”) and wine journalism.  Here is a list of some, but not all, such as finance journalism (for which there are internships), of the different types of journalism careers.  How to Become a Financial Writer offers insight into this career.  Another option is a career as a copywriter.  Parents and grandparents can inquire about after-school writing and poetry programs in their town or city.  Washington, DC has Split this Rock and Writopia. 
   

·        Parents and grandparents can assign their reluctant reader to document family vacations and events (e.g., family reunions, weddings, etc.) and write captions (descriptions) to accompany photos.  Who knows, maybe a photojournalist career would interest them.

·        Speaking of family, parents and grandparents can introduce their reluctant reader to genealogy.  The process – exposure to the forms and charts needed for family history research – helps reluctant readers understand the terminology/vocabulary, concepts and significance of learning about their Ancestors, thus, increasing their background knowledge.  Familysearch.org and Familytreemagazine.com guide middle and high school students in this endeavor.   

Some tweens and teens might complain, “What’s the point in studying some moldy old dead relatives?  What they got to do with me?”   Parents and grandparents can tell their reluctant reader to consider the blood running through their veins; their DNA (the carrier of genetic information).  Does the reluctant reader do things differently from anyone in their immediate family?  If so, could that trait have been passed down from a “moldy old dead relative”?  Parents and grandparents can tell reluctant readers that “Genealogy is more than just tracing your family tree, it is about

-  discovering your heritage,

-  creating a story about your family, and possibly even

-  creating a medical history and can  

-  take you through time and across continents.”

Reluctant readers will    

- learn how their Ancestors managed some of the same, even worse, difficulties (i.e., safety, getting enough food, disease, etc.) they (the reluctant reader) face today;

- learn something from their Ancestors’ strengths and weaknesses; does the reluctant reader have similar strengths and weaknesses?

- compare their Ancestors’ social and political environment with the current environment.  Parents and grandparents can ask their reluctant reader: “When your Ancestors lived, was air quality better than it is now?”  If yes, “Why?  How is it different?  What happened that made it different?”

This activity might lead a reluctant reader to a career in genetic genealogy and genealogy research for which no formal education is required but a degree, such as in family history, is always helpful.  Genealogists are generally required to get certification at the Board for Certification for Genealogists. The field yields plenty of internships such at the Department of Labor’s application for recent graduates.  Parents, grandparents and reluctant readers can also get helpful information at How to Become a Professional Genealogist.

·        Blogging.  Any of the above activities could lead your reluctant reader to creating a blog, which encourages reading and writing.  Teachmama.com provides a step-by-step guide for adolescents interested in starting a blog, and addresses safety issues. 

14. Reading Space.  A quiet environment is crucial to reading and focus.  But, this can be a challenge for youths (and parents) living in today’s high volume, noisy world.  And, not every home can ensure reluctant readers a quiet, well lit, comfortable and inviting space to read.  (This is especially true where children live in homeless shelters.)  Still, 
  

·        Quiet or silence, as Erling Kagge noted in his book, Silence: in the Age of Noise, triggers and invites “reader reflection and is essential to our sanity and happiness.”

Public libraries are the best public places to read in peace and quiet, but, some libraries in some cities, like Washington, DC, are challenged with overtly disrespectful young and adult patrons – from talking loudly on cell phones, popping fingers and dancing to music they play (without headsets or earbuds) on computers, to profanely and vociferously engaging in conversations with or angrily confronting other patrons or library staff.  Some people eat entire meals in DC libraries (the DC Council relaxed the “No Eating” policy, which has opened up a can of worms.  Literally.  I’ve seen people eating out of cans in the library.  It’s disgusting to sit at a public computer where trifling people leave crumbs and sticky stuff on keyboards and at work stations.  Once upon a time, librarians could walk up to a patron, put an index finger to her or his lips and say “shush or sssshhhh” and monitor individuals who disregarded library rules.  Today, the chances of being cussed out or even physically attacked are scary and real.  Outlandish behavior doesn’t happen often, but is annoying when it does.  That said, patrons and reluctant readers can reserve a conference room for an hour or more in libraries and read in peace, away from the noisy and rude public.

“One more thing,” as the disheveled TV detective, Columbo, would say.  Actually, three more things: 

First: Parents and grandparents can remind their reluctant reader that reading not only means learning, but also “knowing.”  IF YOU DON’T READ, YOU DON’T KNOW (that catchphrase is on my t-shirt).  And, knowing translates to “confidence.”  

·        Parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader can create a large graphic poster with that slogan and display it in their reluctant reader’s room; stick “post-its” with that same slogan on the refrigerator and kitchen cabinet doors, bathroom mirror, household furniture; in underwear and sock drawers; on car seats and doors, bicycle, backpacks, etc., and text the catchphrase to their reluctant reader as often as possible.

 

Second:  Parents and grandparents can tell their reluctant reader that reading enhances other pleasures in life; makes other things they enjoy doing, better.  For example, if they like listening to hip hop, Tiffany D. Jackson’s Let Me Hear a Rhyme, that “tells the story of three Brooklyn teens who plot to turn their murdered friend into a major rap star by pretending he is still alive,” would be a cool,  non-boring read they could talk about to friends.  Parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader can find more compelling hip hop novels here.

Third:  Reading books can be therapeutic.  Medical doctors in Wales write 30,000 book prescriptions a year to treat mild to moderate depression.  Book therapy, in war-torn Syria where adversaries drop U.S. bombs and shoot automatic weapons destroying lives and homes, is helping to heal survivors, mentally and emotionally.  Despite the devastating heartbreak from losing family members and friends, Syria’s Secret Library reported that remaining residents mustered up the fortitude to search through the rubble, like archeologists, and salvage thousands of books.  Then, they set up a library in the basement of a building where the upper floors had been bombed to pieces.  AWESOME!!!  Book Therapy!  Just what every frustrated middle and high school reluctant reader needs.   

PARENTS and GRANDPARENTS CAN ALSO READ:

How to Raise a Reader, by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, helps parents instill a lifelong love of books - from birth to teens.

Pre-teens and teens might enjoy

The Mystery of the Underground Railroad, by Carole Marsh

Double Dutch, juvenile “secrets,” by Sharon M. Draper

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, ghost story, by Kelly Barnhill’s
Freak Show, teen to the rescue, by Kristopher McClendon

Have more suggestions for busy parents and grandparents to help a reluctant reader be a joyful reader?  Please share.

Magic, Miracles & Blessings,

Willette

How Parents and Grandparents can "Spark Joy" in Reading for Reluctant Readers - Part 2

How Parents and Grandparents Can Help their Reluctant Reader be a 

Joyful Reader 

14 Low Tech, Common Sense, Old School Tips & Career Suggestions

by Willette Coleman ©2019

The author shares techniques she has used and personal anecdotes that reveal much about reluctant readers 

 

  4 of 14 “CAN DO” Suggestions

Part 1 addressed multiple reasons - from authors’ poorly written text and lack of clarity, to boredom - that could be in play that cause tweens and teens who can read, dislike reading.  These factors also may be the underlying cause many reluctant readers embrace the “reading ain’t cool” falsehood.  Parents and grandparents can counter that worthless message and help reluctant readers see that “reading is profoundly cool,” by using some of the following 4 low tech, common sense, old school tips & career suggestions.

8. Bedtime stories.  Reluctant readers can play a major role in this activity by reading to a younger sibling(s).  This realization is the basis for Reach Incorporated, an outstanding program in Washington, DC that prepares teens to read to younger students.  Reluctant readers tasked with reading bedtime stories to a younger sister or brother will feel a sense of compassion and power; gain confidence, and increase her or his “background knowledge.”  (“Background knowledge” is clarified in Part 1 in the opening narrative.)  This responsibility also takes some pressure off busy parents conflicted with time-management issues from working long hours, or two, even three jobs.  Indeed, various studies show that “demanding schedules” are among the reasons parents and grandparents skip the bedtime reading ritual.  

 “The tradition of parents reading bedtime stories to their kids is heading for an unhappy ending - with only two in ten saying they always do it,” reported thesun.co.uk.  These embarrassingly low numbers are fairly accurate.  It’s a pleasant surprise when more than two students out of 20 – from elementary to college – tell me their parents, grandparents or older sibling read to them at bedtime.  The average bedtime story reading time is “13 minutes” a Novotel survey found.  And, a father shared in his post, Seven things I learned reading a bedtime story every night of 2018, that 10 minutes have remarkable benefits for both the child and for him.  E-devices also are among the reasons for this abysmal failure of family educational engagement, according to Rise in Technology Sees a Decline in Bedtime Reading.   The report, Bedtime Stories Ditched in Favour of Screen Time, says “over half of parents let their children watch TV before nodding off and a quarter give them a phone or tablet to play on.”   In How Screens Impact Young Children, Dr. Diana Shepherd, in the Department of Child Development at California State University said, “…obesity and sleep disturbance have been linked to increased screen time and early exposure to screens.”  This NBC news video demonstrations The Impact of Electronics on a Child's Brain.

Despite invasive technology and busy schedules, reading bedtime stories or reading to children anywhere, as noted in Part 1, Suggestion 1, is attainable as another parent shared in 10 Ways To Make Reading With Your Child Magical.  And, reluctant readers can help, even create individual, personal bedtime stories with younger siblings at Wonderbly.com.

·        Parents and grandparents can tell their reluctant reader to be patient with the younger sibling(s) and never say, “You’re too slow,” or “You’re dumb.”  That kind of language is intimidating and demeaning, and causes a child to withdraw and dislike reading; even dislike his or herself.

I’ve experienced, first hand, the kind of pain a child carries from such put-down messages.  A precocious second grader I tutored struggled mightily with reading.  I’ll call him Sweet Challenge, as I do all primary school children.  Routinely, Sweet Challenge called himself “dumb.”  I overruled his self-lacerating, poisoning mantra and told him “I think you’re smart.”  “I’m DUMB!!!” he retorted.  Determined to be the fierce Williams sisters in this self-image battle, Sweet Challenge and I smacked the “dumb/smart” ball back and forth over an invisible tennis net, daily.  I even sang “I think you’re smart” in my best operatic voice.  He didn’t buy it.  A few days in, I asked if someone had told him he was dumb.  For a nanosecond, a shadow of sheer torture covered his little face like a veil.  He didn’t answer.  Then, after about nine tutoring sessions and self-image matches, Sweet Challenge shared, with a tinge of stress in his voice, that his grandmother said he was dumb.  Surprised, disappointed, even a little shocked, I affirmed, “Well, I think you’re smart.”  He volleyed back: “I’m dumb!!!”  But, that time, with juuuuuust a little less force; the “dumb” ball didn’t quite make it over the net.  Venice and Serena were a point ahead.  On the last day of eight weeks of tutoring, twice a week, I gave Sweet Challenge a hug, gifted him a book and said “You’re smart.”  He looked directly into my eyes and said:  “I’m smart.”  Yesssss!  The Williams sisters won the match!  I told him to say that out loud three times a day and to say it even louder when someone said he was dumb; no matter who said it.  And, to always remember that his tutor thinks he’s smart. 

At one point in our tutoring sessions, his scholarly third grade brother told me he tried to read books to Sweet Challenge, but he wouldn’t pay attention.  Not knowing the particulars of their home life, although I knew they lived below the poverty line, I wondered if his not paying attention was the reason his grandmother had called him “dumb.”  Maybe she said, “If you don’t read, you’ll be dumb” and, as a seven-year-old, he only heard the words “you” and “dumb.”  Had she offered any assistance, I wondered?  Could she offer assistance?  Throughout the years, I’ve spoken with parents who didn’t know how to help their children read, which is the reason for this post.  Most distressing is that some of the parents had low reading levels.  According to the National Literacy Directory, “1 out of every 6 adults in the U.S. lack basic reading skills – that means 36 million people can't read a job application, understand basic written instructions, or read the Internet.”

Nonetheless, no one should EVER tell a child he or she is stupid, slow or dumb.  Encouraging, supportive words work wonders in building a child’s or reluctant reader’s reading and academic self esteem. 

9. Books-on-tape/audio books.  Parents and grandparents can listen to books-on-tape/audio books while traveling in the car.   This is a trillion times better than blasting hardcore, profane gangsta rap from the radio in a car with babies and toddlers strapped in the back.  Consequently, they repeat the foul language they hear, including the demeaning n-word, to their classmates, teachers, the public and their parents.  Clearly, this could be a HUGE challenge for many juveniles, as well as young parents, even young grandparents (some 30-somethings are grandparents) who have grown up embracing this genre’s profanity as a standard form of communication (unlike older grandparents’ profane-free music).   Still,

·        Books-on-tape/audio books can be a fun alternative, if, for example, mysteries appeal to your reluctant reader.  Parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader can view a selection of Young Adult (YA) audio books at epicreads.com and Firstbooks.org.  An exciting selection of age-appropriate reads is listed on Mystery Diversity Books for Kids and Coretta Scott King’s book awards.  For older youth – 17 and older – dynamic writer, Toni Morrison’s honeyed voice guides listeners through her epically acclaimed, BELOVED, in its audio book format.     

10. Reading labels.  When shopping for groceries, female’s beauty and male’s grooming products - 

·        Parents and grandparents can encourage their reluctant reader to read the labels on chips, candy, sodas, crackers, cookies,etc.  Some ingredients in some processed foods and beauty/grooming products are difficult to pronounce and aren’t in the standard dictionary, such as methylisothiazolinone (a preservative in many lotions and cosmetics; also used in industrial systems), so, parents and grandparents will need to look up such tongue twisters on the Internet or in a chemistry dictionary.  Hard-to-pronounce words in foods and beauty products offer parents and grandparents an opportunity to have stimulating critical thinking discussions about whether the ingredients are unhealthy.  Also, teens, especially those considering a career in the medicine, could learn to read the side effects of their own or family member’s medication which contain strings of paragraphs with medical terminology.  Pharmacists (another career option) normally give patients prescription drugs’ information when they fill a prescription.  Alternative or holistic medicine is other career components of the health field.  (In my next post, I’ll share the top magic secret sauce in teaching children, tweens and teens how to pronounce difficult words.)

·        Add a pinch of math (which we often forget is a language) to reading labels.  Math expands a reluctant reader’s analytical, interpretation and communication skills.  Parents and grandparents can challenge their reluctant reader to compute sodium (salt) intake in processed food (e.g., frozen dinners, canned foods, etc.) and calculate how much sugar is in liquids (e.g., fruit juices, sodas, cough syrup, etc.).  For example, if there are 28 grams of sugar in a Coke, and one teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams, how many teaspoons of sugar is in the Coke?  This is another opportunity for a one-on-one discussion about the health risks of consuming so much sugar or sodium
 

·        Encourage your reluctant reader to add the price of each item in your shopping cart (without using a calculator on their smartphone; dependency on calculators can cause students to lose the ability to do simple arithmetic, say some experts), then, compare their total to the total at the check out register and on the receipt. 

  

11. Parents and grandparents can subscribe to magazines that interest their reluctant reader.  Nothing takes the place of the sensory processing involved in touching and turning book and magazine pages, but, with most teens’ magazines being online, that visceral connection is diminishing in the 21^st Century.  Still, a few remain in public libraries or on grocery store magazine racks and local libraries currently stack a sizeable selection of magazines for children and tweens.  Magazines often contain revealing articles about tweens’ and teens’ favorite celebrities, as well as personal essays or in-depth stories about bullying, communication, team work, goal setting, decision making, relationships and so on.  (Overcoming Obstacles is a great website that provides parents, grandparents and teachers with the tools to address any of these concerns, which also may contribute to reluctant readers’ disinterest in reading.)      

Speaking of the library (incidentally, The Evil Librarian, by Michelle Knudsen, is a good read), parents, grandparents and reluctant readers can explore their local library together. 

·        Sign up for a library card!

·        Make each visit an event where you share some one-on-one, quality time among books (turn off cell phones).  Steer your reluctant reader away from the computers.  It’s tempting.  Or, you could strike a deal:  Books for half an hour; computer for half an hour.  Suggest they play one of hundreds of online educational games for middle and high school students.
 

·        Take some time to admire and point out book covers’ bold and beautiful lettering/artwork/designs.

·        Read the short passages about the author and illustrator (artist) of books that interests your reluctant reader.  That information, usually, is on books’ jackets’ inside back flap.  Sometimes “Author’s Notes” that give research details are after the end of the story, such as in these teen books:  

o   TRAPPED Between the Lash and the Gun, where, within the context of the present, a teenage gang member, on his way to buy a gun, is suddenly trapped in the past during American slavery.  Will he return to his century?  What happens to him in a world 100 years before he was born?

o   Zora & Me follows Carrie and Zora as unexplained events fuel Zora's imagination and love of storytelling that includes a man-gator.  In this quick read, the authors re-imagine writer and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston, as a young teenager.

o   Jump into the Sky is an adventure where a teen travels across the U.S to live with his father.  The story is based on the true story of the outstanding courage of the first Black paratroopers of the 555th parachute Infantry Battalion.  Parents, grandparents and their reluctant readers can learn the real facts/history about this little known history at the triplenickle.com association’s website.

As discussed in Part 1, 2. Read the same book at the same time, parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader can read these books together and have stimulating conversations about the content.

·        Emphasize careers in writing and illustration.  Here are lists of writing careers  and illustration careers.

·        Explore the copyright © page.  Was the year the book was published the same year your reluctant reader or her or his sibling(s), parents or grandparents was born?  Seeing that information could inspire a connection to books and reading.  The copyright © page also tells readers if a book is a “first edition.”  

This book by famed baseball player, Jackie Robinson, is valued at $3,500 on www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30143697051&cm_sp=collections-_-zT1oLEVlt2Dhe3W2zo2EU_item_1_12-_-bdp  

Here’s an opportunity for parents and grandparents to help reluctant readers learn about the enormous dollar value of “first edition” books.  A first edition Harry Potter, for example, is currently worth $55,000.  Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is valued up to $6,000.  Maya Angelou’s first edition I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings valued at $12,000, Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun valued for $8,000.  See also, thefirstedition.com, the richest.com and biblio.com.  Biblio.com directs beginners through the world of identifying first editions, how to find out what a book is worth, and more.  See this list of valuable books, some worth over $30 million dollars.  Yes.  $30,000,000.00!

·        Since tweens and teens generally have their minds on money, parents and grandparents can encourage their reluctant reader to read What Can You Do With Money? 

One thing they can do is consider a career in numismatics – “the study or collection of currency….”  Using a magnifying glass, parents and grandparents can take some time with their reluctant reader and closely examine coins and bills.  This inspection could reveal currency, like books, worth big bucks, especially those that contain errors, like the 1969 penny, worth $24,000.  Spotting currency errors is among the things numismatists do.  Some valuable coins and bills are still in circulation. 

The U.S. Treasury Department states that coins can be used “as a jumping-off point to teach science, social studies, math, and more,” and the site offers free, complete lesson plans for grades K-12.  Investigating the backs of quarters offers lessons in geography.  For example, Rhode Island’s quarter has the engraved image of Block Island on the back, and West Virginia features New River Gorge.  The Hawaiian quarter displays the engraved phrase Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono and an image of King Kamehameha, Hawaii’s first ruler.   

Examination also shows reluctant readers the year each state became an official part of the United States.  Hawaii, for example, joined in 1959, Rhode Island in 1790, West Virginia in 1863, and so on.  Inspecting these beautifully designed works of art could appeal to reluctant readers’ sense of aesthetics. 

With regard to design, parents, grandparents and their reluctant reader would be intrigued to learn that an African American created the portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt that's on a coin we use every day - the dime.

And, the activity could stimulate middle school, high school, and introductory college level students’ curiosity in and raise their awareness of careers in economics and finance.  The Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides resources for parents, grandparents and teachers to educate/inform middle and high school students about basic economic principles.  USmint.gov is another good resource.  Financial literacy could be the spark that motivates reluctant readers to read the New York Fed’s Educational Comic Book Series. 


Suggestions 12, 13 and 14 in PART 3. 

If you have some old-school, common sense tips that parents and grandparents can use to help a reluctant reader become joyful readers, please share.

Magic, Miracles & Blessings,

Willette