Questions: Do you kids read only Harry Potter? Do you think that reading the samebooks alongside them is a form of incentive? What else you did to help them to read before Harry Potter?
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Questions: Do you kids read only Harry Potter? Do you think that reading the samebooks alongside them is a form of incentive? What else you did to help them to read before Harry Potter?
1) No - they have read many books at lots of different levels
2)Yes reading books alongside children is a incentive - it becomes a social thing, which is powerful
3) Lots of things. You have to invest time and books in children's reading. Bedtime stories, making up stories, reading together, reading school books together.
The most reading they do is on screen with a computer, though they are still reading some books. What I know is that they can read at a reasonable level. They read a lot of online manga.
In the original Japanese because that would be impressive! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Paulclem
Kids read the Twilight series as well....
Pffft!! Kids!! What little do they know!
In the original Japanese because that would be impressive!
Not yet. My son wants to do Japanese at University, so it may be possible in the future. My daughter has also done business Japanese at her school - she's 13, and is also keen on doing it in future. I have to admit to absolutely no input into all that as I am, unfortunately, virtually monolingual. I'm glad they are forging their own interests. Luckily my wife is good with languages when we go abroad. :D
One naturally expects kids to know little. However, when adults resort to the same level, then God help us all. Harry Potter my ***!Quote:
Originally Posted by joebob
One naturally expects kids to know little. However, when adults resort to the same level, then God help us all. Harry Potter my ***!
Some of the arguments have been about the possible positive effects on kids reading.
The fact that kids read Twilight has what bearing on the quality or lack of quality of Harry Potter exactly? Many kids also like Alice in Wonderland, Goosebumps, The Phantom Toll Booth, and some even like Jane Austen. Ever hear of the Guilt by Association fallacy?Quote:
Originally Posted by joebob
Quote:
Kids like Twilight, and Twilight is a bad book series
Therefore kids must only like bad books.
Kids also enjoy reading Harry Potter,
Since kids only like bad books, Harry Potter must be a bad book series.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulclem
Them paul (allow me to call you shortly) , would you think that if they read something else but HP they would still be reading thanks to your incentive? Would you think that instead of HP, it was x(being X any other book) would they not became a active reader?
this is an overly-cycled point, and I do not believe it really holds any merit on the discussion. The point being "if a person read Harry Potter and went on to read Canonical books afterward, they probably would have gone onto read them regardless of reading Harry Potter" The truth is, anything that inspires one to read is a good thing, no matter what it is. Sure, the people who like Harry Potter and go onto read much better novels would've done so with or without Harry Potter, but the fact that it is a source of inspiration for a number of children gives it a slight bit of significance.Quote:
Originally Posted by JCamilo
An anecdotal example:
I am a musician, and a lover of many types of music. I can play guitar, piano, drums, trumpet, trombone, marimba, etc etc. I like a vast array of different kinds of music, Beethoven and Mozart are two of my favorite composers. But I did not start to even take notice of music growing up, and it didn't really interest me until I was about 11 and I discovered punk rock music. A lot of it wasn't all that good, but I didn't know that then. But I thought it was the greatest thing in the world, punk rock. I blasted it in my room, and it inspired me musically. And it's because of these musicians with no musical merit that I grew to appreciate what 'real' music is, and grow up with a more artistic sense of what music is. Sure, I would've probably grown to like music eventually either way, but the fact that that music inspired me makes it important in some way. When a person is new to something, like reading, they just enjoy the first thing that connects to them, and go from there. If that is Harry Potter, so be it.
It wasn't for me, for me it was Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". I can look back and see why that novel is VASTLY imperfect, but I didn't realize that growing up. I just knew that I liked the story. And from there I just wanted to keep reading. So whether or not I can ever bring myself down to the level to re-read it, Treasure Island will always be important to me.
That is what reading should be: emotional connection to the human condition, no matter what brings it about. I'd much rather my future kids read Jane Austen or Shakespeare to find such things, but chances are they won't listen to me. And to discourage any reading undertaking they should happen upon seems wrong to me.
Hear, hear.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathor
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulclem
... okay i don't know where you get this comment from but there is no evidence to back this claim up.
OH MY LORD THIS CONVERSATION DRIVES ME MENTAL, IT IS A ROUND TABLE ARGUMENT.
PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES. PERIOD. BOOKS DO CERTAIN THINGS FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE.
A child's mind does not stay young forever..
let them enjoy books CRAFTED for their mind. When they are ready, and if they love reading, if they LOVE stories, they will seek out more books. As their mind grows so will their tastes in literature.
Give them a little bit of credit, maybe some of you could do with reading a bit of Harry Potter. Your imagination is clearly fried.
And another thing - i'm pretty sure most of the people who have posted in this thread are of an "older" age and have never read Harry Potter in their life.