My biggest sense of failure as a mother (and teacher): I have two boys that will not read. One son, Elliot, is interested on occasion but the other (Cameron) runs from all things considered literacy. You name it I have tried it. Where's Waldo? He's on the bookshelf. Pokemon, Yu-Gu-Oh!, got those too. Ripleys, yep. Guiness Books, yes too. He likes sharks. Have a whole series.
As an attempt to get my boys reading, I have created audio books of my own and used good old Robert (Robert Munsch) as the 'hook' to get some interest. Last night, I coaxed them into listening. Robert was a big hit with Elliot. He loves the story More Pies, always has.
Cameron was not interested as it was way too much emphasis on words and baby-ish.
Then, I thought. Why not look towards the books that he would be interested in but feels the 'read' is too difficult. He loves Harry Potter, Bionicles and Lord of the Rings but these are just too complex for his reading level. He is a weak reader and just plain lazy. It exasperates his very literate mother.
So, I began to search my shelf for a book that I loved and could imagine in my mind as a kid. I began to read The Cricket in Times Square. He reluctantly listened and said 'that was okay.' Well, it wasn't a no. He prefers to read by himself he says.
I can buy that as long as he reads. Our agreement is reading 4 chapters a day this summer. That is more than he has read ever. Whether he is reading along listening, or just reading, he is reading nonetheless.
I will continue trying to get some interest by experimenting with audio books that I create. What a great use for the Kindergarten classroom that I just left....
Today I created an audio book of Big Chickens. This was a very popular picture book that my class wanted to hear over and over. They loved the rhymes and repetition. Now I know how simple it was to record this. Uploading is another story. Free uploading/hosting is very limited for files. I am finding that my files are too large for free hosting. I will look into this more.
As an attempt to get my boys reading, I have created audio books of my own and used good old Robert (Robert Munsch) as the 'hook' to get some interest. Last night, I coaxed them into listening. Robert was a big hit with Elliot. He loves the story More Pies, always has.
Cameron was not interested as it was way too much emphasis on words and baby-ish.
Then, I thought. Why not look towards the books that he would be interested in but feels the 'read' is too difficult. He loves Harry Potter, Bionicles and Lord of the Rings but these are just too complex for his reading level. He is a weak reader and just plain lazy. It exasperates his very literate mother.
So, I began to search my shelf for a book that I loved and could imagine in my mind as a kid. I began to read The Cricket in Times Square. He reluctantly listened and said 'that was okay.' Well, it wasn't a no. He prefers to read by himself he says.
I can buy that as long as he reads. Our agreement is reading 4 chapters a day this summer. That is more than he has read ever. Whether he is reading along listening, or just reading, he is reading nonetheless.
I will continue trying to get some interest by experimenting with audio books that I create. What a great use for the Kindergarten classroom that I just left....
Today I created an audio book of Big Chickens. This was a very popular picture book that my class wanted to hear over and over. They loved the rhymes and repetition. Now I know how simple it was to record this. Uploading is another story. Free uploading/hosting is very limited for files. I am finding that my files are too large for free hosting. I will look into this more.
I am trying to use zip folders to upload. My story of Big Chickens is at: 
http://www.box.net/shared/os8rt2vhup. My woes continue since I am in a rural area without DSL access. Dial-up is painful! How I miss the comforts of school, namely DSL.
http://www.box.net/shared/os8rt2vhup. My woes continue since I am in a rural area without DSL access. Dial-up is painful! How I miss the comforts of school, namely DSL.
No comments:
Post a Comment