Why I Will Always Let My Boys Read "Fluff"

There seem to be two schools of parenting or teaching when it comes to encouraging kids to read:   One camp wants to see kids reading quality literature and frown upon " fluff " (books of little substance or consequence that are superficially entertaining) while the other camp is just happy to see their kids reading.

In case you couldn't tell by the title of this post, I'm one of those moms that is just happy to see her kids reading.



Out of my three boys I only have one that LOVES to read and the other two tend to shy away from it. I usually have to cajole them into reading for just 15 minutes.

Having struggled to raise two reluctant readers I have found so much value in allowing them to read fluff that I'm not even sure I can see the validity in the argument that kids should read quality literature! (Kidding!)

Any books that make my non- readers happy to read is just fine by me!  I have always let my boys choose their own books and we count whatever they are reading as part of our schooling.

Evan has struggled for years to learn to read and kept insisting he did not know how long after I thought he really could read.  In the past month or so he has read an entire chapter book by himself and asked if I could request book 2 in the series when he still had two chapters to go.

This made me so very happy!

Did I love the book?  NOPE!

Did I think it was quality reading?  Not even close!

The book series he has fallen in love with is all about Terraria.  I have such a hard time listening to the story and we found a few grammar and spelling errors (which I did explain and point out)... but he LOVES them and that has always been my goal when teaching reading.

I want my boys to fall in love with reading; to look at books and remember having fun with them.

I want them to want to read and not have to force them to read just because it's part of our school day.

I love when they come bounding over eager to tell me about what they read, begging to see if I can find more books like it, and watching them recommend the book to their friends.

So I will always allow my boys to read "fluff."

That doesn't mean we don't read any quality literature; we do. I read books aloud to the boys, we listen to books on CD, and I often suggest books for them to try reading that I think they'll enjoy.  Often I can get them to read books with me by taking turns reading pages or chapters together.

Right now my middle son is working his way through Watership Down and Ian is giving Animal Farm a try; both at my suggestion and both books I remember reading myself in school.

I try to make sure they are exposed to a variety of reading materials, authors, genres and styles but I will always encourage them to read books they enjoy; even if it means allowing fluff.

Linking Up With: Wonderful Wednesdays,





Live Live Well Pin


Comments

  1. Michele MorinAugust 30, 2017 at 8:37 AM

    I knew that I had embraced this position as well the first time I purchased "Duck Dynasty" bio's for my third son for Christmas. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3August 30, 2017 at 4:34 PM

      That sounds like something my oldest would like; he loved that show.

      Delete
  2. CharAugust 30, 2017 at 4:06 PM

    It is so important to keep the main thing the main thing. To me, that was always a love of learning. Kudos to you!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Meg FalcianiSeptember 7, 2017 at 7:56 AM

    I totally agree. I want them to love reading and learning. They read plenty of "real" books for school work, so as long as they're reading *something* "for fun" (and it's age appropriate), I'm ok with fluff. I don't think my go-to western/Mail Order Bride-themed favorites are exactly hard hitters, but you'll pry them out of my cold dead hands. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Moving MeditationAugust 31, 2018 at 11:54 AM

    Yes to reading fluff! Reading should be enjoyable - a form of play sometimes. It should not be turned into drudgery. Good for you - and your boys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3August 31, 2018 at 3:03 PM

      Thank you! I just love reading and would feel like such a failure if my boys ended up hating it.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more