Cleavage and Big Butts

A few blogs ago I shared some books that my son Corey recommended. I also shared that Corey was a reluctant reader. I have three children and my eldest, Maggie, is anything but a reluctant reader. Maggie has always been a good reader. She really wasn't an early reader. She went from reading level c books to reading Harry Potter in 1st grade. (yes, I know that the length and content of Harry Potter are not meant for a 1st grader, but I also believe that if child is motivated that you should let them try...and I thought she would get a few pages in and give up)

Maggie did have a set back in her reading journey near the middle of 2nd grade. The school Maggie attends uses Accelerated Reader pretty heavily. Part of their grade each year is based on it, the hallways are full of graphs indicating how well each child is doing, etc. Well, Maggie read at a 6th grade level in at the beginning of 2nd grade. She was made to check out books and read 6th grade books. Maggie was NOT interested in these books. She wanted to read American Girl books in the worst way. I, being the rue breaker, told her she could read anything she wanted at home, she didn't need to follow these rules when we bought books or went to the library. Maggie fell so far away from the tree on the rule following thing. She would not go against her teacher.

I contacted her teacher to ask if she could either change her ZPD at school or encourage Maggie to read non AR books at home. Her teacher informed me that her ZPD would stay the same and she was glad Maggie was reading only AR books at home. So the years goes on, Maggie loses her passion for reading although she is racking up the points and her little "space ship" is zooming to the top of the bulletin board. Maggie's teacher also required each student to take two AR tests a week. Around February Maggie was reading a long book(remember she is reading 6th grade books). We had gone to Corey's basketball game one evening and to my dad's to eat on another evening this week. She did not finish her book on time. I told her her to tell her teacher that she didn't have time to finish the book due to family commitments (you would think I would have learned by this time). Maggie was told to take the test anyway. She received a 70%. This particular teacher required a 80% on each test or...they stood on the wall during recess. This was a common punishment for naughty behavior. Everyone at recess could see who had been naughty. Maggie was devastated. I did mention earlier that Maggie was a rule follower, didn't I? She came home crying. She thought we would be mad at her for getting into trouble.

I was furious! I contacted the teacher to set a meeting time (after I calmed down). We had the meeting. I voiced my concerns. The teacher told me I was wrong. I explained why I felt the way I did. She repeated that I was wrong. I told her why I thought AR was not benefiting the children. She again told me how wrong and misguided I was. She then said,"we will have to disagree about this subject. Thank you for sharing how you feel." I was dismissed. Worse that the way I felt was the result this episode had on Maggie.

Maggie began to only check out short books. She always read the books in the time allotted, even if it meant missing out on fun life experiences, she followed the rules. Her reading level went down in third grade. I asked her how the STAR test went. She said she started missing questions when she noticed others had completed the test so that her level would be more "normal".

This story does not have a sad ending, however. Maggie is 14 years old now and she regained her passion for reading slowly after 2nd grade. She has had a wonderful 8th grade Language teacher this year (Thank You Mrs. Neff).

She and her friend recently returned from the library with an odd collection of books. They had decided to choose each other's books. They both agreed to read the books. Two of the three that Maggie's friend had chosen were: The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. First, I think this is such a fun idea and will try it soon with one of my friends. Second, I love to see my children having fun with reading and literature. Maggie enjoyed these books even if they were chosen for the "embarrassment at checkout" factor. She probably would not have checked either of these books out herself. I am glad that Maggie has friends that talk about literature, share, and enjoy literature together.