The book the kiddo has chosen is (fill in the blank here) too short, too long, too much below his reading level, too much above his reading level, too silly, too scary, and basically, just not what the adult wants for the child.
The kid looks at us beseechingly--help! The parent or teacher also looks to us for help, but it's more of in the "adults stick together" way. What do you do?
How about if everyone can win?
How about if the kiddo can check out whatever "just for fun book" that he likes? That way it doesn't really matter if the kindergartener checks out a 500 page tome. It makes him feel like a reader. Let him go! It doesn't really matter if a fifth grader checks out a drawing book. It's fun. Let him go!
Ditto for series books. This might be a good opportunity to briefly explain the importance of series books in creating readers (see the birthday cake theory post) and the fact that it's critical for readers to have freedom of choice in selecting what they read.
Chances are if the kid is allowed to check out his "just for fun" book, then he won't care if the adult prevails with what she considers the "just right" book.
Everybody goes away happy, and most importantly, the kid's choice has counted for something. In that case, we all win.
And with good reader's advisory, librarians will likely have another chance to recommend books the kiddo will love. If we force choices on him, he may never darken the library door again.
Thanks for this post! You are so right! I encounter this situation regularly in my school as well. This is where our training as librarians, with long-term goals for kids like helping them develop into lifelong readers, differs from the reading teachers' training. Their focus is much more immediate. That's why students need both of us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas! I think this is a great solution ... and who knows, maybe the kid will discover a new genre/reading level, etc.!
ReplyDeleteI love this solution. One of the women I worked with in Coppell this summer told me about something like this. It's win-win. I even got to watch it in actionn. This kiddo just wanted to hold the CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS book and look cool even if it was above his reading level.
ReplyDeleteLove it and love when teachers are on board with it, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! You are so right! I encounter this situation regularly in my school as well. This is where our training as librarians, with long-term goals for kids like helping them develop into lifelong readers, differs from the reading teachers' training. Their focus is much more immediate. That's why students need both of us!
ReplyDelete