I was browsing Twitter this morning when I saw that +Valeryinblack had tweeted me. They had shared an article, telling me that they thought that it would be useful for a blog post.
I advise you click here first to see the article
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| Photograph: Christopher Thomond Source: The Guardian |
It really made me wonder; are kids reading the right books? The article said that:
" ...while the average difficulty of books rose as pupils got older, it did not match the rate at which reading skills should be improving. It found that difficulty spikes for UK children in year six, but plateaus until year 11, after which it declines. "
I was quite unsurprised by this. I help clean up and organise the school library on break times. Only younger students seem to take books from the library at all, with the exception of sixth formers, who make their home in the library behind walls of textbooks. This means that many children really aren't pushing their reading ability unless they absolutely have to.
I also agree with the report, when it stated that the cause of this decrease in reading standards might be:
the loss of in-class reading time and the closure of libraries
That is absolutely and undeniably true. But I also think that reading standards have went down over the years because bookshops recommend newer books over classics, which is fine, but children should also be encouraged to stretch themselves with classics.
For example, the report said that the most popular book was 'Girl Online' by Zoe Sugg
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| Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Source: The Guardian |
I have no qualms with this book, but is it intellectually challenging enough? Sure, it might be a good book, but is it really the kind of book that needs to be popular amongst schoolchildren? Ideally, intellectual classics should be popular amongst these kids, but instead, by nature, children go for entertainment and famous names.
Do you think this is the way to go?
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