Back to radio and fireside...

       Much has been said in protest against excessive use of ready made entertainment, especially movies. Part of the fault lies in the way in which individuals and families have permitted themselves to remain oblivious to family fun getting experiences. Perhaps there is too much readiness to be entertained rather than to develop personal enjoyment. 

       However, increased radio listening may again direct the family back to the fireside. A study of radio programs reveals that many of them are designed to appeal to a wide age range so that they may be appreciated by the entire family. Some of the programs stimulate new interests and others deepen interests already in existence. Therefore, much pleasure for the family as a group can be found in radio. Regular news broadcasts include information on affairs about which preadolescent and adolescent boys and girls are already concerned. Regular listening to selected programs highlights the differences of opinion which exist on practically all topics of any importance. Some children at twelve, fourteen, and sixteen are already able to refer to radio commentators' viewpoints, and compare them with their own opinions. Wider reading of newspapers and magazines is likely to follow. Furthermore, family discussions which are based on programs not only serve to keep us up-to-date, they also strengthen the bonds of common interests and understanding between youth and adults. The radio can thus be of real value, one of the best aids we know in strengthening family life. 

       Many radio programs can and do contribute greatly to recreation and lighter activities while continuing to be of real educational value. The various quiz programs are of this nature. One family reports that, thanks to quiz programs, they have practically worn out the best dictionary, the only encyclopedia, and many hitherto unused history books. Looking up questions, checking answers, and inventing further quiz questions are absorbing indoor recreations. There is something about the puzzle spirit which appeals to young and old, the fun of finding out and sometimes being right. 

       Increased use of radio in relation to school programs, too, should be encouraged. Not only is The American School of the Air a regularly scheduled classroom experience, but so are news broadcasts, sports programs, and broadcasts of special events. Programs heard during out-of-school hours are a regular source of information in connection with some studies. So the radio when wisely used adds to the scholarly growth of school-age children as well as to that of their families.

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The Growth of Critics

       The appraisal of material should be a frequent class project. A good example of meeting this need was expressed in a seventh grade where a boy introduced a new history comic magazine. Some class members objected to the magazine as being history material, and said, "A comic magazine is not good history." Others thought an individual should know about the content before he judged it. Each member of the class of thirty-four boys and girls read the booklet. They decided to check it with regular history books to test its accuracy. After considerable time and real study, the comic book was considered true to history as related in other books, interesting, exciting, but brief. The teacher admitted this study was educational for her as well as for the children, because she had assumed all comic books were inaccurate.

       Group study of new magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, and advertisements as well as books is a fine experience. It helps youngsters develop a discerning attitude-finding out not only what they like and do not like, but also reasons for their acceptance or rejection. Unanimous agreement may not always be reached. In fact, continuous unanimity is not a good sign; instead, it is reason for careful investigation by the teacher, because it may mean that too much teacher opinion or arbitrary student opinion is dominating the thinking of the group. 

       Such study and discussion should be considered an important part of teaching reading, and so, of course, should take place during regular school time. In fact, without such discussions and group study children may never become real, comprehending readers. 

       As children in school, and even as college graduates, we may have read what we were told to read, answered questions about what we read, and derived satisfaction from our ability to meet tests based on memory of this reading. We may never have been asked to express an opinion on this material or to test its worth by any set of standards. In plain language, many of us were taught to be gullible, non-discriminating swallowers of ideas gained from books. Criticism of what we read had to be deferred until some literary big name spoke for us. 

       Today, in a modern school and home, children are guided differently. They are learning how to judge and respond to their reading almost as soon as they begin to choose books. They will become foolproof readers, too discerning to need spoon-feeding by critics or protection by censors. 

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A "Good Neighbor" Policy

       Lending books is a common practice which leads to conflicts between children and adults. Young readers, if normal, are not only sociable but generous. They gladly share a book which they own and enjoy with friends. An easy lending system, however, often results in a loss of books. Therefore, the more careful adults frequently propose "no lending" rules. To children, this attitude may seem not only unreasonable but unfriendly -stingy! A constructive approach to this problem would be to help children work out a regular lending library service, with a card system, and perhaps even a set of rules for book care, fines, and lending privileges. A successful example of this was given when some children in a large city apartment house pooled their books for the summer, elected a librarian, and operated a well-planned library for the entire neighborhood. All this was done under the leadership of an eleven- year-old boy, who took responsibility without the aid of a single adult. Children really enjoy being systematic, and a good opportunity for them to apply their sense of system is in connection with book sharing. 

       In all good school libraries, books can be withdrawn for home use. A few school libraries, probably because they have too few books, deny children the privilege of taking library books home. The imperative need for an adequate supply of books, magazines, and pamphlets in schools is clearly indicated. A plan for purchasing in which pupils participate in making recommendations, evaluating new materials, and keeping them in usable order is also advisable. An unusually serviceable school library was operated in a junior high school where, under the leadership of the librarian, the twelve- to fifteen-year-olds conducted a lending library for shut-ins-adults as well as children. Requests were sent to the school; books or magazines answering the request were selected and taken by a pupil to the person too ill to get out of doors. The knowledge about reading matter, and interest in reading in this school naturally ran high. 

       The finest library, however, can be wasted, if no adequate provision is made for its use. "When you are all through with your assignments you may go to the library and read," formerly was a common promise made to youngsters. And how absurd! The able go-aheads, who could work at top speed and finish everything early got a regular session of enjoyment in the library; while those who plodded with knit brows seldom if ever got there, and finally stopped trying. And these last were the very ones who most needed a new array of books, and a chance to look at more colorful, better written materials than their too difficult textbooks, of which they had so many. Finally, what a peculiar concept of a library, as a place to spend excess time when essential work is completed. This implication, unfortunately, has probably colored the attitude of some children toward the worth of extensive, voluntary reading. How the library is to be used should be planned cooperatively with children. Rules must be sensible, if they are to be followed. Individual use of the library must be planned for. Library periods for a whole class may be valuable for teaching the children how to use the library. Teachers need to understand and establish good library procedures in cataloging, classifying, and housing books. 

       A well-ordered library is usable for even the youngest children. In many schools, kindergarten children go to the library for "a book about trains," or "a picture of a polar bear." Even for five-year-olds, the library can come to be known as the reservoir of a rich supply of material, far too extensive to be kept in the classroom. The child understands that this is the place where extra sets of reference books, films, maps, and pictures are kept for greater accessibility to all children of the school. Such understanding fosters orderly use of the library. Reference reading begins early and is eagerly pursued in a school where challenging interests of children, wise scheduling of time, and a good library all converge in a pro- gram that is an exciting venture in education. 

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The "Clutter" Problem

       When and where to discard papers and magazines ought to be a matter which a whole family decides. In general, it has been found wise to keep newspapers several days, for future reference. This is especially essential as children begin to discuss items on the way to school and in school. Past issues should be available to help a child prove a point or share information with others. In one home, Saturday morning was salvage and discard morning, when the children went through newspapers and magazines, and cut out articles, pictures, and sections for their collections or school reference work. Finding convenient space for the growing home library is another problem which children and adults should decide together. Bookshelves in children's rooms become essential, and if made by the children, they are doubly appreciated by them. Above all, frequently used reference books should be placed where they are always easily accessible. 

       A systematic approach toward preserving printed materials may be all that is necessary to guide youngsters into learning how properly to care for and handle their belongings. With the youngest, direct suggestions may be necessary. An infant, looking at a picture, is told, "Pat the dog, pat the baby." This gives the child an opportunity to touch, to do something, other than tear the page. It also avoids the negative, "Don't tear," which often causes this youngster to respond by giving a good rip to see what the adult will do next. Cloth books for infants who persist in tearing-and in eating are fine. Later, at the age of about three to four, when his desire to color and scribble begins, a child should be given old magazines and paper on which he can mark as much as he pleases. 

        As a rule, children take care of the things they like. If a book is a choice possession, it is likely to receive respectful handling, it will be treated carefully according to the child's conception of care. It is neither natural nor desirable for children to be as clean handed as adults. Pressure for too rigid care of books can so annoy a child that he avoids them. If sensible suggestions for care can be worked out with children in home and in school, they will invariably be followed.

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Reading is A Personal Affair

       Read me this story," said a three-year-old boy to the visitor in the nursery school. The visitor, who was not well acquainted with small children, looked at the book, and answered, "I'll get you a better book. This one is really too old for you." "No," was the determined response, "this is the story I want. It says 'spank.'" And sure enough, as the visitor read, she came to the part that especially appealed to this choosy youngster, the part where the poor little duck was naughty and got spanked by an unfeeling adult.

       Preferences begin at a very early age. Certain words or ideas appeal, others fall flat. Some books can be read and reread, the youngster running eagerly to his parents, "Read to me!" Others are never asked for after the first reading. Although there are some topics and qualities in books which appeal to a large number of young readers, taste cannot be standardized for them any more than it can for adults. Children from the youngest to adolescents have strong individual tastes; that is, they do if they have had a wholesome reading diet. If, on the contrary, their reading material has consisted chiefly of books bought for a whole class-books to be read by everyone, the chances are great that what they have cultivated is a flat taste or distaste for reading. 

       A teacher overheard one of her pupils who had shown no interest in reading say, "If I had my own money, I'd subscribe to Popular Mechanics." What a shock; a disinterested reader yearning to subscribe to a magazine! The teacher's real surprise should have been in the fact that despite a disregard for his reading needs for several years, this boy still wanted to read. 

      The hand-me-down method has been common practice for too long. We adults, out of our inadequate knowledge of both children and reading materials, have planned what youngsters should read and have bought accordingly. Think how children would look if we used the same insight when buying their clothing! 

      Families, too, may have erred in this respect. It is common knowledge in neighborhood life that some children get their newspaper reading, comics, in particular, at a neighbor's home. They do so because their own home doesn't cater to their need for comics. Of course, there are some avid comics readers who tour the neighborhoods on Sunday, reading the comics of all mystery are fascinating papers delivered in each section. This goes on in villages as well as in New York City apartments. If Pat knows that his family buys a Sunday paper partly because it contains a comic section especially for him (the rest of the family, of course, will read it too), he is more happily adjusted within the family reading circle. The same is true of the magazine selection. There should be at least one periodical which is the child's choice. When children tell what books they hope to receive as birthday or holiday gifts, their requests should be honored, if possible. Sharing in the selection of newspapers, magazines, and books is an excellent stimulant to discrimination in reading. It whets the reading appetites of children, and arouses an added personal interest in these materials. 

      As papers, magazines, books, and pamphlets come into a home and grow in quantity, an orderly system of keeping and discarding must be developed. At four a child can learn to be a good "librarian" of his own collection of books; he can even advise adults exactly on which shelf to locate a certain book and where to return it.

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Print by Ruth Mary Hallock for Your Dollhouse

      Ruth Mary Hallock (1876-1945) illustrated children’s books for half a century. One of her earliest works was, “Little Rhymes for Little Readers” published in 1903. Many of her popular illustrations were republished in 1950 editions of children’s storybooks after her death.

More Links to Ruth Mary Hallock’s Artworks:

• Illustrator Ruth Mary Hallock
• Early Illustrators of a Child’s Garden Verses
• “What they say in Rabbitville, 1935″ by Hallock

Print by Vera Stone Norman for Your Dollhouse

        Vera Stone Norman was born in Garden City in 1888. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1921. She is best known for the children’s illustrations she produced for magazine and books during the late 1920s and 30s. The majority of those books being Elementary text-books.

Above, Illustration of “brownies” (fairies) by Vera Stone Norman

Illustration of Deep Sea Divers by Vera Stone Norman.

Links to more Vera Stone Norman artworks:

• Illustrations by Vera Stone (Norman)

Grownups Don't Always Help

       Being reasonable in what we expect of children may entail a hardship for adults. If normal, happy, pig-tailed Judy doesn't master the complicated translation of clusters of letters to their correct words during the month, we feel our whole family tree is tottering in a destructive wind. We often feel that we must explain Judy's difficulty to friends and neighbors; we joke about "the beautiful but dumb member of the family"; we may even say how glad we are to have a "problem" child. 

       All this is rather certain evidence of the deep humiliation and disappointment we feel because Judy, rollicking, fun-loving Judy, is not such a success in reading. All of us who observe children, teachers, principals, and parents should know that learning to read with ability to recognize and remember more and more words, begins with some children even before kindergarten age, with others at six, seven, and even later. A careful study made in California discloses that children whose beginning in reading was postponed until after the first grade, caught up with, and in some cases even excelled others, who had started earlier. Some children mature more slowly than others. Why worry? Look at us, relaxed adults, who dare scan the formulas pertaining to atomic energy, but who cannot begin to tell what they mean. However, we feel quite adequate in handling our duties in daily life. Let's give children the same right to be themselves!

• Reading Progress: Too Fast or Too Slow? School Shorts with Melissa Chan-Green
• Why slow reading beats speed reading. by Sean D'Souza
• Overcoming shame as a slow reader

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Sure Road To Discouragement

       The hardest, perhaps, of all suggestions to apply is that of recognizing a child's ability in terms of what he can do satisfying and helping him to feel adequate at that point. In other words, avoid goading a child to do better when he is already putting his best efforts into what he is doing. Exhorting Ann to do as well as older or even younger sister Edith may rob Ann of her feeling of security at home. All disciplinary treatment of children with reference to their reading needs careful examination. Taking away their books, saying, "You can't read this until you do better in arithmetic," may make a child reject both arithmetic and reading. A negative reaction may be the result if a child, eagerly at work on some special hobby, is denied working on the hobby as a means of goading him to improve his reading ability. Wouldn't it be hard on us adults if standard tests of our fitness for work were based on our ability to read music, drive a golf ball straight on a fairway full of hazards, or repair an electric sewing machine? We adults are sufficiently able to avoid such standard-setting hurdles. Yet, in "old meany" fashion we have delighted in, even bragged about, setting high often impossible standards for children. Then, to make matters worse, we have put pressure on children, urged them to live up to these expectations. The result may be the very opposite from what we seek; the child may become discouraged, fretful, lose interest, and finally say, "I don't want to read! I hate it." The wiser, safer, and more effective approach is for the parent and child to explore some new field together: such as looking at seed catalogs for interesting looking flowers, searching for the funniest comics, or looking at pictures in a mail-order-house catalog. The emphasis here should be placed on finding new or desirable things, not on learning to read. 

       The most common pressure periods occur during first grade, eighth grade, and senior year of high school. That is when many schools set up promotion hurdles or standards for boys and girls to meet in order to progress satisfactorily beyond them. It is especially regrettable that the largest number of penalized learners are the young, defenseless six year olds. What a bad beginning for their school careers! No wonder such school practices are now being set aside in many up-to-date schools. In such schools, children are aided to grow their best each year and are helped in reading and other aspects of learning whenever they need help; there is no fixed standard to meet for promotion into the next grade. In this way, they remain interested in schoolwork, feel encouraged, and are in a proper mood for working and learning. 

       If a school still places frustrating, even injurious pressures on children, parents should do all they can to encourage the victimized child. He needs to be recognized at home for some accomplishment of his, and he must be given an important place in family affairs. In this way, the edge is taken off his humiliation, and even if he may not remain totally unaffected, he can at least feel secure in his family relationships, and perhaps be helped back to a hopeful approach to school and the chance to continue to learn.

• Your Child is NOT behind in Reading: Six things parents need to know...
• Does my child have Dyslexia? by Child Mind Institute
• No Fear Reading

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"I Like Superman!"

       As children reach the ages of eight and nine, many parents and teachers begin to struggle with the problem of youngsters' reading tastes. Before this time, children reach out for materials adults provide for them. But as they mature, they begin to share their reading interests with a wider circle of acquaintances, many of whom are older. A child at eight will champion something which he likes. "I don't care what anybody says, I like Superman!" is a remark heard by many an adult. The response to such declarations of preference should show respect for the child's right to make his own evaluations. After all, some women positively loathe sports pages, and think how many teachers recoil from the financial pages of the daily press! 

        Desire on the part of parents and teachers to develop taste has often come to naught. Part of this failure is due to the family's methods of approaching children; another reason is our failure to recognize the basic needs of children. We fail to realize their need for stories dealing with adventure and danger. We also fail to notice that interest in and need for reading about romance begin at the ages of twelve and fourteen. Censorship of reading matter for children seldom works; instead, it stimulates the development of "subversive" reading habits, in which children obtain books and magazines barred by home or school and circulate them among their private reading circles which are sure to exist.

        In general, fear that the child will develop poor reading tastes from reading trashy materials has been overstressed. It is preferable to place the emphasis on developing healthy interests, and making a wide range of wholesome reading matter easily available. Then, with a broad reading appetite, a child can include all manner of content, even the least desirable, without having his ability to appraise and discern impaired. However, differences of opinion are marked at this point. If our attitude is strongly against comics, movie stories, romance and thriller magazines, it might be wise to read some professional studies and opinions prepared by authorities on this problem. The Journal of Educational Sociology, which has devoted an entire issue to comics, is very helpful on this point. 

       And “What Books for Children?” by Josette Frank is another helpful reference. In the meantime, a matter-of-fact attitude toward a child's out-of-bounds interest in reading is a safer approach than one of alarm, derision, and absolute censorship accompanied with condemnation of poor judgment. Such interests often may appear suddenly, flourish briefly, only to be crowded out later by new and more wholesome activities.

• My child will only read graphic novels. Help!

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Building Reading Interest

       In case a child has serious learning challenges, special help by a person who is well liked and well equipped should be provided at a time when it does not take the child away from other desirable school or after-school activities. This means special help should not be offered during recess, gymnasium, ball practice, or other recreational periods. Furthermore, it should be personal. Helping thirty individuals at one time not only is impersonal, it is wasteful. It is interesting to note that the army plan for assisting low readers was to place them in groups averaging twelve, "because," said one major in charge, "reading help is a personal, man-to-man affair." And it should be so for children. 

       The general practice of working with children in small groups is desirable. Organizing the room so that a few children may work together and showing them how to be independent and responsible as they work are excellent aids in promoting learning. In the intimacy of a small group, the teacher may discover what each child's stage of growth is, and what help he needs. Demanding unwilling attention of all the children is thus avoided. Of course, when something having interest for the whole group comes up, all can be given an opportunity to share it. 

       Regular time for individuals to share ideas with others in the group, or enlist their aid, or discover their opinions may need to be set aside each day-even in a junior or senior high school class. A Latin teacher in a city high school devoted ten

       Regular time for individuals to share ideas with others in the group, or enlist their aid, or discover their opinions may need to be set aside each day-even in a junior or senior high school class. A Latin teacher in a city high school devoted ten minutes of each period to letting the youngsters "just talk." She reported the period as invaluable in helping her under- stand the interests and abilities of her teenage students. Also, the students were inclined to be prompt and eager in getting to the room rather than waiting to enter at the last minute. Furthermore, their interest in the discussion was likely to create a greater alertness in the Latin lesson of the day. These discussions were based on school affairs, current affairs, and questions for information along a great variety of lines. Some topics were discussed over a period of several days, with a great deal of voluntary reading and follow-up work.

       Another point of great importance is to make a youngster feel respected, no matter where he is in his reading development. If a ten-year-old cannot read regular fourth or fifth grade books, he should be shown how to enjoy the more pictorial and simpler books. Let us not be unmindful that this is a picture age for adults. Much adult pictorial material has pictures and valuable content for this preadolescent reader. Furthermore, such reading matter has the respectability of adult pursuits, therefore it is all the more acceptable to him. Even if he is interested solely in looking at the pictures, such activity is worth while, and keeps alive and promotes his interest in read- ing and in reading materials.

• Struggling to Fit in Reading Intervention? Learning At The Primary Pond
• Blending Sounds in Syllables by Reading Rockets

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High and Low

 High and Low

A fat golden pumpkin lay in a field,
A golden moon rode in the sky,
The pumpkin shouted, "Hallo there, brother!
Who put you ups so high?"

The man in the mood smiled a jolly smile
At the pumpkin far below--
"I'll light the sky while you light the earth,
On Hallowe'en, you know."

So the fat golden pumpkin smiled at the moon,
And the moon smiled back at him
All through the night till morning came
And the twinkling stars grew dim.

And each felt content with the task he had 
And called it a work of love.
Though one lay low on the cold black earth
And one rode high above.

Read aloud "The Scarecrow" by Beth Ferry.