Reply to Give me constructive advice on how to help my middle schooler in English

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Give me constructive advice on how to help my middle schooler in English"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You have to first ask yourself what constitutes a challenging novel and Why?  You clearly have a problem with what they would choose to read, Why?  And then what is the purpose of the reading?  Are you trying to get them consume information, learn about a specific topic, or read for enjoyment.

Also reading the Lighting Thief and Hunger Games in third or fourth grade doesn’t mean actual literary analysis was done of the novels at that time.[/quote]

I'd like them to analyze and understand complex plots. I'd like their vocabulary to improve. I'd like their own writing to improve. I'd like for them to think. [/quote]

[b]I mean your kids will hate you if you push this on them[/b]--- if you want them to truly love reading, encourage any kind of books. If you think their writing should improve, how about a creative or other writing class?[/quote]

Such a false narrative.  Kids (like the PP above) often choose the easiest way to do something.  "Any" kind of books do not help kids progress, as the OP explained.

OP - Since it's summer and it is better to make the learning fun, choose a topic that really interests your child and then look for "Unit Studies" that involve other activities in addition to reading... crafts, cooking, science experiments, etc.  Maybe even add a family "read-aloud" to get people excited about the topic.  Plan a field trip to something in the book or something related to the author.  Have discussions each night at dinner about the books in the unit (and you need to read those too in order to lead the discussion [also have family members take turns leading the discussion]).

Also consider private school or homeschool.  I am an AP Lang teacher and there is even a growing movement among those teachers to assign graphic novels and to allow the kids to use AI to draft essays (which they would then "edit" themselves).  Things are going downhill fast.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics