Reading, shmeading...

Okay, we all know that I love to read, right? I have made no secret of the fact that I read books like other people eat potato chips.  I read 161 books last year and so far this year have completed 23 books. Just check out my Shelfari bookshelf. Go ahead, it's right over there to the right. I'll wait.

Good, you're back. Okay, deep breath, I really really think the Accelerated Reading program that is in many of the schools these days is awful.  For those of you who are lucky enough to NOT know what this is, it is a program to force "encourage" kids to read.  Basically it works like this. Books are assigned a level and a point range. Then your child reads the book, signs into the web site and takes a test. The Teacher assigns "goals"; reading level, points earned, and percentage of correct quizzes taken.

At my older girls school all the kids who meet their goals are given a school-wide party. The ones who don't make it, can't go to the party. So, no pressure there. Quizzes can only be taken at the school during school hours. Time is put aside every week for the kids to read and take quizzes. Now in theory this is great. BUT imagine you have a child who is reading well above his grade level, but maybe needs help in another area, you can't use the AR time for anything else. It doesn't seem to matter that you can be promoted to the next grade level without the AR goals being met, but NOT if you fail, oh, say, science or math. NOPE, YOU MUST READ. Also what if you are some one who, GASP, doesn't enjoy reading all that much? Too bad, you are pressured and pushed by the Teachers and Administration to "make your goals" Again it really doesn't matter if you are reading three levels above your grade or three levels below. The teachers hands are tied, even if they wanted to use the time some other way they have to have the AR time.

I am a librarian, a lover of books, an addicted reader, but I think this is WRONG! I personally know too many people who HATE reading because of being forced to read in school. Reading is important, don't get me wrong. But could we possibly have some balance? What is wrong with old fashioned book reports? I am afraid that they are turning off more kids than they are helping. I don't see any kids getting any extra help with reading, just being pushed to make those goals.

If this is so all-fired important why can't they take the quizzes at home? They have to learn their spelling words at home, those aren't taught in class even though they are tested on them every week. Half the math is taught at home and not in the classroom, it comes home every night too. But not the stupid computerized reading quizzes.  So apparently I am qualified to teach my kids geometry at home but not to make sure that they don't cheat on a quiz about what happened in the latest Junie B. Jones or Percy Jackson book?

I was really excited about this program when I first heard about it, but after living with it for a year and a half I am over it. Maybe it is different with different Teachers, since they set the goals, maybe they have lower expectations for other students. My girls are in the gifted program and so maybe their bar is higher than average. But I doubt it. AND I do understand that some kids need more exposure to reading. As foreign as it is to me I know there are homes with, gasp, no books in them and no time to read them even if they had them. So programs like this are good for those kids. I do feel that kids like mine, with bookcases of books lovingly chosen to fit their interests and reading levels are being shortchanged and railroaded. One of my daughters, who previous to this program really enjoyed reading has stopped reading unless it is for AR. When asked why she told me, "It's just too much work mom. I have to make my goals, I really don't want to any more reading than that." If a book isn't included in the AR program she won't read it, and there are a lot of good books that aren't in AR.

I heard a rumor that the middle school was more relaxed about it, with no school wide parties and the bribes rewards being kept to the individual teachers. I can only hope.