十天不用带孩子

LG带孩子回国过spring break，突然发现每天晚上原来有那么大把的时间。十天翻完了三本书。

1. Read－Aloud Handbook

这个是五六年前的老版本了，还是中文的。当初看的时候儿子还不到一岁，算是我看的第一本与孩子有关的书了。感觉很惊艳。不过也发现针对学龄儿童比较多。这次拿出来重新翻了一下，主要就是抄了点书名出来，好按着去给挑剔不看字多不爱看fiction的小子找书。

2. How Children Succeed

我不看各类教育书很久了。因为，咳咳，我觉得他们说的都是common sense么。这次跟风完全是因为几个网友写的有头没尾的读后感。先说一下大概这本书的结构。Introduction其实还是很多类似书的路数，批评Kumon、Rug Rat Race之类的早教风魔（这个作者提没提Baby Einstein？我完全不记得了），然后用GED和Perry School两个例子来提自己要说的主题。但是和其他书不同的是，看完Introduction，我实在是有很多很多的问题，感觉作者就是故意留缺口似的。然后第一章，各种research的数据量太大了，我还得再重新看一遍才能消化掉。第二章，各种事例，还是有很多值得思考的地方。后边三章看得就比较快了，总结一句话其实就是毛主席他老人家早就说过的“在战略上藐视敌人，在战术上重视敌人”。打仗是这样，养孩子是这样，其实孩子们成长中要遇到的很多事情也是这样，希望孩子有朝一日能懂。

重新看完前半部分以后，争取挖一个大点的坑。

3. The Book Whisperer

这本书在我list上两三年了。作者是一个多年的6th grade English language arts and social study teacher。写书的时候是个middle school principle。感觉书针对的读者群主要是跟作者一样的老师们，强调的是学校应该promote “true independent reading without skill-based programs, comprehension tests, test practices, or incentives tied to it”。书写得还好，但是不推荐家长们看，因为她不是为家长们写的。绝大多数篇幅其实在讨论common/current classroom practices，比如class novel (the whole class reading the same novel for extended length of period), shared reading practice, book log, book report的缺点即以possible alternative approaches。

要说Donalyn Miller这样的老师也真的是可遇而不可求的：她的教室本身就是一个图书馆；每天给孩子20分钟左右的in class reading time，同时帮助他们寻找见缝插针读书的机会；鼓励independent reading，根据每个孩子的兴趣水平来推荐阅读。作者认为，各种work sheet，reading comprehension tests，其实就是出版业的一个挣钱机器。真正有效的方式，independent reading，反而已经被学校和各种incentive program放弃。她相信，只有在学校里开始读的书，孩子们才更有动力回家去继续阅读。即使那些可以被叫做readers的孩子们，如果一个学期课堂上总是缓慢的在读class novel，也只能把他们变成underground readers，让他们觉得课堂和阅读是对立的。

她一个学年对孩子的要求是要读到40本书。有的孩子开学初会问，如果读不到40本怎么办？作者在书里写，这么多年教学，最少的一次是有一个孩子一年读了21本书，这个数字其实也已经很惊人了。相信孩子们，给他们挑战，他们做得比我们预期的都要好。

这种海量阅读的方法我真的很喜欢，但是对于我们这些家长来说，学校里遇到什么样的老师，有什么样的教学法，只能说是out of our hands。而且Miller的方法对老师的要求其实很高。她一直强调在阅读中，读书是第一位的，然后才是读经典和读书多样性的问题。因为，作者说，给一个喜欢读书的孩子根据他的能力和喜好推荐其他书籍，比让一个拒绝读书的孩子开始读来的容易的多。她这句话从理论上是没错，但是对于很多人来讲，“推荐”并且让孩子还能接受，估计不是那么简单吧。这背后要有多大的热忱和“数据库”支持啊？反正对于现在的普通公立学校老师来说，我是不抱有太大希望了。

抄几句书里的话：

Reading is both a cognitive and an emotional journey.

Reading widely expands a reader's knowledge of a variety of texts, but there are benefits to reading deeply in one genre, too.

Readers travel through both worlds, that of high art and that of popular culture.

Laboring over a novel reduces comprehension.

Take a critical look at arts and crafts activities and extension projects. Any activity that does not involve reading, writing, or discussion may be an extra that takes away from students' development as readers, writers, and thinkers.

Limit the number of literary elements and reading skills you explicitly teach with any one book. (Fisher and Ivey, 2007)

Use short stories, excerpts, or poems to teach literary elements or reading skills, and ask students to apply their understanding to their independent books.

Daniel Pennac - 10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader:

1. The right to not read,
2. The right to skip pages,
3. The right to not finish a book,
4. The right to reread,
5. The right to read anything,
6. The right to "Bovary-ism," a textually-transmitted disease,
7. The right to read anywhere,
8. The right to sample and steal ("grappiller")
9. The right to read out-loud, and,
10. The right to be silent. 

Jen Robinson - Why You Should Read Children's Books as an Adult

1. It's Fun.
2. It keeps your imagination active.
3. It strengthens your relationship with the children in your life who read.
4. It sets an example for the children in your life, making them more likely to become readers.
5. It clues you in on cultural references that you may have missed (both current and classical).
6. It's fast. Children's books are usually shorter than adult books. so if you don't think you have time to read, you DO have time to read children's books.
7. It allows you to read across genres. Children's books aren't limited to mystery OR science fiction OR fantasy OR literary fiction. They can have it all
8. It's like time travel - It's an easy way to remember the child that you once were, when you first read a book.
9. It's often inspirational - reading about heroes and bravery and loyalty makes you want to be a better person. And couldn't we all do with some of that?
10. Did I mention that it's fun?

Other Resources, Useful Websites and Books

1. Books That Don't Bore 'Em: Young Adult Books That Speak To This Generation
2. Association for Library Services to Children: Awards, Grants & Scholarships
   (http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants)
3. Jen Robison's Book Page
   (http://jkrbooks.typepad.com)
4. teenreads.com (www.teenreads.com)
5. Booklist magazine
6. TumbleTalkingBooks and Audible