Just Right Books: Part Two

ADDENDUM to Just Right Books Part One:  Perhaps I am too harsh a critic.  Just Right books do have a place in education.  Let's say a kid is a bit behind in reading.  All his or her friends are reading a series and he/she tries to read it too, but can't.  That kid may become very frustrated with reading.  Finding Just Right books can help a child discover that reading is FUN rather than FRUSTRATING. My problem is when an education philosophy or idea becomes the only way.  The truth, in my opinion, is always in the middle.

READING UP:

Here's an example of how Mirette and I read up.  Perhaps she'll be just like me when she grows up and read travel guides for fun.  She also reads birding books and cookbooks.  Anything with lots of pictures is fair game for us!

READING DOWN:

Any Sandra Boynton book is sheer pleasure for both Mirette and Mommy.  These books are near and dear to my heart because Blue Hat, Green Hat was the first book that caused Mirette to laugh aloud, the first humorous thing she got on her own.  Needless to say, we read this book again and again and again to the same effect — hysterical giggles.   

Interesting things about Sandra Boynton: She's 58 years old, went to Yale, is married to an Olympic canoeist, lived in France, is into drama and singing, has four kids, grew up Quaker, and has written a whole ton of successful books. 

Here's a link to a Boynton song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3_7UikPpcg&feature=related

A very cool video she produced with BB King:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8rLuk2PoMA

Her official website:
http://www.sandraboynton.com/sboynton/index.html
 
Want your kid in a Sandra Boynton book (this is a pretty cool idea):
http://www.pintsizeproductions.com/pintsize_personalized_Boynton_boardbooks.html

Lastly, a link to Sandra Boynton's cd GRUNT — which looks pretty darn fun for harried parents (it's a Pig Latin version of Gregorian Chanting):

http://www.amazon.com/Grunt-Pigorian-Chant-Snouto-Domoinko/dp/0761105948/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321464170&sr=1-1

Just Right Books: Part One

I have seen education waves come and go.  There's lingo that suddenly is all the rage and then it fades out and something new takes its place.  Keep in mind this isn't based on history, just what I remember from my 15 years as a School Counselor.  (I didn't usually attend reading workshops and in-services, so this is just from an outsider's view.)

First there was Accelerated Reader.  Suddenly some books had an AR label—such as 4.5 (4th grade, 5th month).  A student would read books and take a quiz afterwards.  Kids would know their reading level—like "I'm a 4," or "I'm a 3.2."  Students would want to read AR books because then they could take a quiz and get prizes.

Then suddenly, Accelerated Reading took off like wildfire.  I remember that one school I was at took the summer to completely level the library.  Leveling books means that every book in the library had a label on it as to its reading level.  Accelerated Books and Leveling are no longer trending because now they are just part of most schools.

The new trend, though, is helping kids find "Just Right" books.  A JUST RIGHT book is perfect because it is challenging enough to help the student learn new vocabulary and yet not so challenging that it will frustrate the student.

It makes a lot of sense, but another part of me just wants to puke when I hear over and over again, "choose a Just Right book."  I know it works and is research-based and all that—but it seems to me that it has the potential to take something away from the love of reading.  After all, think of all those first graders reading the entire Harry Potter series—way beyond their "just right" level.

As for us, I see many reading lists for young kids and they are divided into the following categories: Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers.  It's semi-ridiculous because we regularly read books from all three categories.  In fact, many of the books I have reviewed in this blog would never be on a list for toddlers.

Tune into the next blog posting to see how Mirette reads both up past her "Just Right" level and down below her "Just Right" level and how we have FUN with excursions into both extremes.