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We are told to be our brothers’ keepers. More obvious than this is that we should be our childrens’ keepers. One part of this is monitoring their media consumption, and this isn’t limited to newer media like the internet or the video game. My censorship questions are about books (although they have applicability across media platforms).
My Questions:
1a. What is a good book and what is a bad one?
b. How strongly should we steer our children towards good books? How strongly should we discourage (or even forbid) them from reading bad ones?
2. Assuming that clarity is reached on both a & b above, how does a good parent implement her intentions?
Amelia apparently believes that L.L.F. evidences her taste in books
About the second question: On Amazon, I was reading a review of a book that many customers disliked because it is aimed at children yet contains anti-religious, especially anti-Christian themes. One reviewer said that she thought that the criticisms of the book were ridiculous because parents should pre-read every book their child reads and should therefore already know for themselves whether the book in question is or is not appropriate for their children. That comment made me laugh. It is simply not possible for me to preread everything that Amelia reads. There is too much. Clearly some of us have weightier burdens than others where censorship is concerned. Some of our children read a lot more than others.
Because prereading everything is impossible for me, I have to employ other strategies. First, I look for lists of recommended books. The library has a lot of such lists, my friend Rebecca has put her recommended reads for middle grade readers on the internet, as did Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times just last week, and of course the famous Nancy Pearl came out with an entire book of her recommendations, Book Crush, a couple of years ago.
But compiling lists of recommendations is insufficient. I noticed that Nancy Pearl’s ideas of what books are appropriate for young readers is more liberal than mine. Kristof’s New York Times column received more than 2,400 comments and most of these include book recommendations. Many of them are wonderful, but some of the books recommended there were pretty clearly in the bad books category, or at least the bad-books-for-Amelia-to-read-now category which amounts to the same thing for my purpose: finding books for Amelia.
One tool I find helpful in vetting others’ book recommendations is Amazon.com Often their customer reviews are able to a) sell me on a book’s quality or b) convince me that a book isn’t appropriate. Unfortunately, Amazon reviews do not usually establish that a book is appropriate. Of course, there is no certainty that a book is okay at the next censorship gateway either: when I have the book in hand and read the dustjacket and a chapter or two. Ultimately, I think it is safer to err on the side of censoring too little rather than too much. I’m not willing to limit Amelia only to the books I’ve found the time to read, so I have to settle for trying to review many (but not all) of her books. Some of my reviews of her books are cursory; others are more careful.
I believe the most important way in which I prepare my children to continue to explore their world through books is to help them cultivate their own good judgment—to become their own censors. They will be picking out many of their own books. I can’t evaluate every bit of every book. But I can try to teach them that some books are better avoided and some better pursued. This is a gift my own mother gave me—I just can’t figure out exactly how she did it! (I asked her and she had nothing concrete to offer).
So, how do you go about being your child’s reading censor? How do you teach him to self-censor? (Not in the sense of limiting what he himself says or writes, but perhaps limiting what he reads?)
Look for this post to be continued when I discuss the answers to questions 1a and 1b.
Taking stock of my day—
I have three children.
1. Child #3 (Kate)’s speech therapist came for a home visit. I explained that I was pleased that she is saying a few more words and phrases, but frustrated that I have gotten nowhere with “articulation practice,” where I am supposed to help a 2 year old practice the sounds that are difficult for her to make. (Do you see a problem with this plan?) I may be a bad person, but I actually felt pleased when said 2 year old first covered her mouth, then turned around and put her bottom in the air after the speech therapist pushed her to make the “k” sound a few too many times. [It isn't just me!] Ultimately #3 hid and refused to say goodbye. Oh yes, speech therapy is going well.
2. I asked child #2 (Duncan) to empty the dishwasher. He said he was hungry. I said, “Great! Because I have a special treat for you right after you get that dishwasher finished!” It was more than three hours before he got any food because it was more than three hours before he was ready to empty the dishwasher. I suspect he might have eaten some of the trail mix that was supposed to be the special treat while I wasn’t looking though.
3. I didn’t take child #1 (Amelia) to Shakespeare for Kids although she desperately wanted to go, because she spent the entire day doing her chores and homework. Shakespeare is supposed to be a reward for doing her chores and homework well and quickly. We are not there yet.
One huge success today was that we found some large grid paper at Office Depot. [Amelia explained to me during a review of her homework that the reason I cannot read her numbers is because I am not trying hard enough, but I don't know, I think it might be something else!] The smaller quad ruled squares were too small for Amelia to fit her numbers in. I think the large grid paper might represent a significant boon to her future in math. It is important for your math answers to be readable in settings other than standardized tests! Unfortunately, Amelia hates the paper. She is no fan of anything that would make her look different from the other kids. I hold out a weak hope that once she sees it’s useful . . .
It is Bee Week! This year there are 293 contestants competing for the top speller honor in Washington D.C.
I have been busy trying to figure out if there is a way for Amelia and I to see it on TV. Supposedly the finals are going to be televised on ABC Thursday evening, but I found the local listings confusing and I’m not sure if this is true. Also, because I’m a recovering addict, we don’t have a television, so that complicates things further. Anyway, as a great speller wanna-be (I am a high school basketball star with Michael Jordan dreams) I find it all very exciting. Participating in the Project Read fundraiser (spelling) Bee last fall and coaching Amelia this past winter has reignited my interest in spelling bees. Fortunately, I found that the internet can help with the desire to hear all about it.
1) You can test to see whether you would have qualified for the quarterfinals last year. (Pmom: Yes! Of course since I’ve had an extra 25 years to study, I’m not sure how impressive beating out all those 11 yr olds is). Scripps will post 2009′s written test words tomorrow, I think.
2) You can check out this throwing things blog (also known as alott5ma) . Last year they offered a super play-by-play of the bee and they have a fairly comprehensive list of twitterers and bloggers concerned with this year’s bee (but check the comments on that thread, because I added another one!).
3) You can also check out biographies of the spelling bee contestants at the official Scripps site and read CNBC Darren Rovell’s picks for the kids to watch at the Bee. — Go Kavya, go!
Amelia’s regional bee was Saturday morning. It was one of the largest spelling bees I’ve ever seen.
Amelia won her school spelling bee last Friday. It was exciting for everyone who watched. The students were much better prepared than they were last year and the bee ended with three spellers who were able to go round after round after round with each other, spelling the hardest words on the list and repeatedly not missing. I was impressed with the elementary student audience. They were quiet, they paid attention, and they broke their silence to give a satisfying gasp each time a particularly difficult or unusual word was correctly spelled.
Amelia’s school spelling bee is this next week. Each teacher is supposed to send the top two male and female spellers from the class for a total of four. By contrast, last year each teacher simply sent the top four spellers from the class. So this year, if the top four spellers in the class are girls, then two of the four best spellers will not get to go to the bee. This change seems like a mistake.*
Two questions need to be answered—What does the school hope to accomplish by: 1) Sponsoring a schoolwide spelling bee? 2) Sending some students to the bee and not others?
I would suggest that the purpose of a spelling bee is to encourage students to devote more time and attention to their spelling. Spelling bees do this by encouraging appreciation of excellent spelling as a skill–a skill at which some are able to excel (spelling truly difficult and impressive words) through both talent and study.
I spoke with Amelia’s principal today. He told me that Amelia will be in the class of the teacher who we had requested. That is a huge relief. I actually had a nightmare this week about which school Amelia would be going to. The situation is that I have heard such negative things about one of the other possible teachers that I actually considered putting her at another school for a year in order to avoid that classroom.
I feel a bit guilty about being successful in my class placement request. I would prefer not to make a request at all. It seems inegalitarian. What about the kids whose parents are tuned out? On the other hand it doesn’t seem like the fact that some parents are tuned out is a good reason for me to tune out–not to actively seek what I believe to be best for my daughter. Read more