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Thoughts on Audio Books and High School
Mar. 23rd, 2006 07:47 amLast night, my youngest son asked me if we could go out and buy an audio book version of a novel they're reading in his Honors English class. He said the teacher had one.
I asked why.
What he proceeded to tell me surprised me and I wondered if he thought it up on his own or if it was common.
He said it would be easier than reading the book. That reading took a lot of time and that he got bored and that sometimes the chapters were 20 pages and he had to stop and take a break.
For the record, my son reads well. Above his level in high school, actually. He's also in Honors English.
But, he doesn't WANT to read.
I can't say that he doesn't want to read at all, because he read quite a bit over the summer.
Maybe it's the choices of books that they read in high school. He and I have discussed before the fact that most of them are depressing and not uplifting. He wondered if that's what made them classics. :)
This particular book that the teacher has them reading is NOT off the normal reading list. There was a particular reason she chose it. And, once again, it's a downer, about a soldier dealing with the Vietnam experience.
Needless to say, I'm going to take a look at the book and read through for myself.
I wonder how this affects students and whether or not it can possibly prejudice them against reading by not having a mixture of various types of books interspersed throughout the year.
I explained to my son that I would be happy to purchase the audio book for him, if he still wanted it, AFTER he'd finished READING the novel. We discussed the reasons they were reading it instead of listening to an audio book in class and the advantages to reading and what would be expected of him by the time he reached higher levels in high school and then college.
Reading is a HUGE problem in California, it seems. Where my oldest goes to college. They have an entire series of remedial English classes (not just one) before they can even take college English. (If they can't pass the test they take when they enter college.)
My older two LOVE reading. They each have their own favorites, my oldest preferring Sherlock Holmes, and Plato and The Tale of Genji and classics, my daughter preferring fantasy and science fiction and horror, to an extent. And, manga, of course, because she aspires to be an art major.
My youngest loves the Harry Potter books. He's also enjoyed some series books, which do seem to tend more toward fantasy. He likes Jules Verne. He's read some Ray Bradbury.
He's involved in a lot at school, but his play will be over soon and I'm going to see about taking up part of that time with more outside reading.
I figure we'll go--just the two of us--and browse the bookstores and just talk about what we see. I really need a feel for what he likes NOW, since that may have changed since summer.
But, I also want to understand why he feels reading is a chore instead of an enjoyment. I need to know if it's reading that puts him off, or if it's strictly the type of material they're reading in school that keeps him from enjoying it.
BTW, I'm not taking issue with school curriculum. I know there are reasons certain books are chosen, and I am not privy to those reasons. I'm just wondering if other kids are like my son and if their joy of reading is affected adversely as well.
I asked why.
What he proceeded to tell me surprised me and I wondered if he thought it up on his own or if it was common.
He said it would be easier than reading the book. That reading took a lot of time and that he got bored and that sometimes the chapters were 20 pages and he had to stop and take a break.
For the record, my son reads well. Above his level in high school, actually. He's also in Honors English.
But, he doesn't WANT to read.
I can't say that he doesn't want to read at all, because he read quite a bit over the summer.
Maybe it's the choices of books that they read in high school. He and I have discussed before the fact that most of them are depressing and not uplifting. He wondered if that's what made them classics. :)
This particular book that the teacher has them reading is NOT off the normal reading list. There was a particular reason she chose it. And, once again, it's a downer, about a soldier dealing with the Vietnam experience.
Needless to say, I'm going to take a look at the book and read through for myself.
I wonder how this affects students and whether or not it can possibly prejudice them against reading by not having a mixture of various types of books interspersed throughout the year.
I explained to my son that I would be happy to purchase the audio book for him, if he still wanted it, AFTER he'd finished READING the novel. We discussed the reasons they were reading it instead of listening to an audio book in class and the advantages to reading and what would be expected of him by the time he reached higher levels in high school and then college.
Reading is a HUGE problem in California, it seems. Where my oldest goes to college. They have an entire series of remedial English classes (not just one) before they can even take college English. (If they can't pass the test they take when they enter college.)
My older two LOVE reading. They each have their own favorites, my oldest preferring Sherlock Holmes, and Plato and The Tale of Genji and classics, my daughter preferring fantasy and science fiction and horror, to an extent. And, manga, of course, because she aspires to be an art major.
My youngest loves the Harry Potter books. He's also enjoyed some series books, which do seem to tend more toward fantasy. He likes Jules Verne. He's read some Ray Bradbury.
He's involved in a lot at school, but his play will be over soon and I'm going to see about taking up part of that time with more outside reading.
I figure we'll go--just the two of us--and browse the bookstores and just talk about what we see. I really need a feel for what he likes NOW, since that may have changed since summer.
But, I also want to understand why he feels reading is a chore instead of an enjoyment. I need to know if it's reading that puts him off, or if it's strictly the type of material they're reading in school that keeps him from enjoying it.
BTW, I'm not taking issue with school curriculum. I know there are reasons certain books are chosen, and I am not privy to those reasons. I'm just wondering if other kids are like my son and if their joy of reading is affected adversely as well.
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