Top Control: Reading Foundations

One of the things I adore about my closest friends, the ones who are parents anyway, is how they bring texture and depth to their children's lives through books.  They read to their kids, make sure their kids get library time, listen to the children read to them, and promote reading and books as being a very important part of their children's lives.

My best friend is currently deciding on a reading list for her son, and we've been batting books back and forth to what should be included.  There are a lot of lists out there and recommendations, but it can get overwhelming.  I think the best thing to do instead of starting with specific books is to consider what you want out of a list and what you do not want from a list.  Now, I don't have children, but if I did have one, I think I'd try to formulate a reading list from the following.

• The books should have variation.  Don't pick ten books that have the same level of substance to them. If the books are all fluffy, the kid will breeze through them. If all the books are dense and difficult, the child may be discouraged. Select some more challenging texts, some that are nice and middle of the road, and some that are fun and easy. 
• Do NOT just choose books within your child's reading level. If your child reads at a 3rd grade level, choose 40% of the books at that level. Choose 10% that are just below it, and make the rest climb past the level. I'm not saying go from Dick and Jane to Faulkner, but you can certainly build past Dick and Jane into more serious texts.
• Engage your child in the process. Ask them what they'd like to learn about. If they like dinosaurs, choose some books about dinosaurs. If they like nature, choose some nature books. However, do not let the child decide all of the topics.  Give them about 25% of the choices, but make the rest yourself. However, given that you asked your child about their interests, you may very well be able to see places where you can take that interest and branch off from it. If the kid likes adventure books because s/he likes traveling, maybe the next book you choose can be about the history of trains. 
• Some book selections should be made as to enhance the child's frame of reference. Make sure your child reads the books that shape our collective culture. Have them read the books that are famous children's books.  Let them experience Wilbur and Pooh Bear and Encyclopedia Brown. If the book is common knowledge and will come up again and again, make sure the child reads it.
• Some of the books should be the books you love.  Most children truly want to form connections with their parents. Our loves, our music, our books, our comics.....they shape who we are and how we think. If we share what we love with our kids, they will have a better understanding of us.  Trust me, this one is important.  Of all the things I regret about my mom dying when she did, I am very happy to know I what she loved to read.

Other suggestions:

• If you work up a reading list for your kid, you will more than likely do this in advance of the reading time.  So, until it begins, read the books yourself. If you have read them already, refresh yourself on the details. That way you can talk to the kid about the books. And I don't mean quiz them, I mean talk to them about it, have them apply the knowledge in a way that they can discuss it with others.
• Have the kid write down unfamiliar words and look them up.  Don't tell them the meaning of the word, actually have the child look it up, read the definition, and then discuss the word with them. Ask them how the word is used in the story and why. Look, I get this was more difficult back in the day. Dictionaries are clunky and heavy. However, we have this thing now call the internet, and looking up the meaning of a word is easy.
• When the child is finished with the book, discuss it as a complete work.  Have the child share his/her feelings and thoughts, and then talk about your own.  Have the child do a project related to the book, geared to their own interests.  If the child is artistic, have them do something with their art about the book. If the child likes to organize things, have them write out a timeline of the book's events. It would probably help if you did a project over the book as well, something you gift to the child as a memory of the shared experience.

I realize all of this sounds like a lot of work . . . and it is. Then again, you had the kid, so you might as well take some time to really shape its influences.  What better reason to have a child than to groom it to take on the world?