Monday, April 19, 2010

Eleven Plus and Reading Lists

Teachers, parents and eleven plus tutors are always banging on about reading.

“You need to read to try to help your comprehension and reading vocabulary.”

“I have bought you all those books and you won’t even read one. What is the matter with you?”

“I can’t keep up with all the books you read. You are ten years old and you should not be reading adult books.”

We need to look back to 1844 (Graham) to find a debating topic on reading.

Reading for Amusement

Some books are read merely with a view to pass the time – novels etc.

This kind of reading may be innocent but has bad effects. History and poetry are preferable.

Our information depends not on the quantity but the quality of the books we read.

Light reading is more allowable to those who are advanced in age.

The young should never indulge in this sort of reading.

What would Mr. Graham have thought of Harry Potter? The Potter books are long and involved! Lots of light reading there!

Reading to pass the eleven plus must be, at times, rather soul destroying. Some children could rightfully complain that reading for enlightenment – and merely to pass an examination paper – must be pointless and a consummate waste of time.

Dear Librarian

Please help me. I have twins who are about to sit the eleven plus. They have different interests, my daughter loves horses and dancing, in that order, while my son likes action adventures.

My children have just turned ten. They are both Level 5 at school in English but the teacher said they needed to read more. They don’t seem to like the book that their father and I buy for them.

Please help. I don’t want to put them off reading for ever but I do want them to read a bit more.

Thank you.

Worried Mum

Some questions that the librarian may try to answer:

Is any reading better than none?

Should we encourage our children to read uplifting and seminal books?

Is quality more important than quantity?

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