wenorthstars

I've been trying to read alot of the old posts. Glad to have found
this resource! Especially like the advice about reading as that is an
issue for us...has been for awhile. My youngest is soon to be 10 and
refuses to read...says he can't but will read when he needs to find a
show on TV, etc. Guess that's the result of his horrible experience
in public school. We are in CT. and interested in meeting more
unschoolers. We have a great homeschooling support group/s in our
area but many are focuses on schooling-at-home. I plan to be back and
have more to say when I have more time. Thanks for being here!

Alicia

[email protected]

<< My youngest is soon to be 10 and

refuses to read...says he can't but will read when he needs to find a

show on TV, etc. >>

Reading is a large range! Schools will say a child "is reading" just
because he can recite the same little bit of text the other 30 kids just recited.

When I broke my leg I couldn't walk. I wasn't REFUSING to walk, I couldn't
walk.
It seemed worth risking a fall for me to get up and use a walker to get into
the bathroom to use the toilet. Then I HAD to "walk" (with a walker) back.
It wasn't worth the risk to get in the walker just to walk for no good reason.
I could NOT have gone hiking, but I wasn't "refusing" to hike.

It's probably not worth the risk for him to try to read aloud for people who
want to criticize any failure and who have the power to "make" him suffer pain
and embarrassment with more reading lessons and more "reading aloud," so he
opts out of that torture.

But if he can even by process of reasonable guess and elimination find a TV
show, his reward is immediate. The show is on.

I can't read Spanish. If someone pressed me to read Spanish aloud, I would
refuse. But I CAN tell, in the TV guide, basically what kind of show is on.
And the times and channels are numeric. KIND of reading can get you a TV show.

Insulting someone who IS learning to read (with TV guide or anything else) by
saying he can read but refuses to is a negative on the road to reading. It's
a roadblock, an obstacle, to be critical and suspicious of him instead of
supportive and patient and sweet.

With TV listings, there are lots of numbers, lots of clues, he's using the
process of elimination. It's not quite fluent reading to just use bits and
pieces of clues.

http://sandradodd.com/reading

You might already have seen that, but just in case...

Sandra

wenorthstars

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
>
> > Insulting someone who IS learning to read (with TV guide or
anything else) by
> saying he can read but refuses to is a negative on the road to
reading. It's
> a roadblock, an obstacle, to be critical and suspicious of him
instead of
> supportive and patient and sweet.
>
> Wow...some response! I need to clarify a bit here. My child
refuses...does not want to even try...to read a book. Probably as you
mentioned for fear of being wrong...we are still de-schooling. My
family thinks I am crazy for reading to him and not making him read
but I know he will when he is ready.
Thanks for the site info.

Susan Fuerst

>>I can't read Spanish. If someone pressed me to read Spanish aloud, I
would
refuse. <<

I can read Spanish...as in I can look at the words and pronounce them.
However, I would have only a tiny idea of the meaning of the words...or
none at all. Spanish is completely phonetic, it's "easy" once you learn
the rules. But to know what the words mean....well, I am very limited!

Susan