!!!

[oloriel]

Must go and shovel snow (this night brought a lot of it; bets as to whether or not it'll stay till Christmas are now on), but first I must make this entry:

juno_magic!
Thank you so much for the lovely surprise parcel! I must admit that I opened it before Christmas eve. >_>
Incidentally, The Very Hungry Caterpillar happens to be the first book I remember reading on my own. Friends from the neighbourhood, who were attending Waldorf school and thus weren't even approaching literacy yet¹, couldn't believe that I was actually reading the book and thought I'd memorised it instead. (For a long time, I found it puzzling that they thought it was easier to memorise a whole book, even one as short and straightforward as The Very Hungry Caterpillar with its supporting illustrations, than to just read the letters. Now that I've learned all these exciting things about orality and literacy, however, it makes perfect sense. -- Anyway.) That's probably why it stuck in my mind. At any rate, I loved that book, but our copy did not survive my brother and me (or maybe my mother later gave it to one of our cousins, and it didn't survive them...), so the shiny new copy is much appreciated! And with matching toys, too. Eeee. ♥
Right now, the only thing Felix seems to like about books is that you can grab the corners and turn the pages, but he'll grow to appreciate the stories, too, no doubt. And then one of my own childhood favourites will already be waiting for him. ^^

There, you got a ramble all of your own! *shifty eyes* In short, thanks bunches. I'll keep the candle for Christmas eve, though. Still pondering whether or not to wrap the book and toys for Christmas, too...

*squees and hugs*

- - -
¹By now I am actually sympathetic to their reluctance to teach children to read and write. Now that I know how much literacy rewires the brain and changes the way our minds work, I'd want to put that off for as long as possible, too. When I read that some of the kindergardens around here have a "literacy education" programme for three- and four-year-olds, I shudder in horror. (Yes, I know that in some places this appears to be the standard. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.) It's one thing when kids decide that they want to read and write and start picking up letters - I did that when I was five, too, and accordingly spent my first year in school being bored - you can hardly stop them then - but actual, organised schooling? Damn, people, that's wrong. But I digress.

Comments

[jokergirl.livejournal.com]

Butbutbut most people in my family (and my boyfriend's) WANTED to read and write at age 3!
...Oh right. We're nerds. Carry on ;)

(True story though. Neither my mom nor his mom know where we got it from, we just *could* read by 3. Nerdy kids FTW!)

I also loved the Very Hungry Caterpillar though. Thumbs up!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

As I said, if the kids want to do that, you can hardly stop them. Presumably they're ready for it, anyway! It's just that I think it's deeply wrong to impose that skill on them at such an early age if they don't want it. Children develop differently, and at least for a few year, they should be able to set the speed and choose the skills they're most interested in on their own. Children who don't care for reading at age four (or whatever) won't have an advantage later on if they're taught reading regardless - they'll merely learn to dislike reading earlier. Much better to just read out to them, and wait until they're curious about reading all by themselves! Of course the line has to be drawn somewhere even if some kids still may not be ready for it at age 7 - but not that early.

So if Felix wants to read at age 3 and picks it up more or less on his own, that's cool. But I'm definitely going to choose a kindergarden that doesn't do early literacy training. ^^

[jokergirl.livejournal.com]

Considering he's your son it might be more than likely he does that anyway :)

[independence1776]

Oh, I remember that book!

As for literacy: a few years ago, Mom was a kindergarden aide and the push was to have all children reading by first grade. (Reading used to be taught then.) One year, the teacher told Mom one of the girls was slow because she wasn't reading or learning her letters or something involving literacy. Mom's reaction was, "No, she's just not ready. She'll do it when she is." By the end of the year, the girl was reading.

But I have a whole rant about the education system here, and how we may be teaching kids to read, we aren't teaching them to enjoy it.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, ours isn't much better. We just have fewer weird tests, and no spelling bees - but then German (standard) spelling isn't nearly as messed-up as English...

But you're right, that's indeed a topic for a fully-fledged rant, and this isn't the time and place. ^^