What are we reading FOR?

Do we want a reader? Read to your child! A lot! Do we want our child to love reading long term? Mentor them into the love you have for reading: model it, share it. Do we want reading to be an integral part of who they are? Well, you can hardly help it. When we consider how books become part of us, what we read becomes essential, as discussed a couple of weeks ago.

"...to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." 2 Nephi 9:29

If we read the verse that come just before this one, we will give more careful consideration to the way you teach your child! And yet children are constantly learning, whether we teach them or not--and if we don't teach them, the world certainly will and we will not be happy with the results. Teaching children to hearken to the counsels of God should be the goal of every parent. So, what does this have to do with learning to read? Well, reading, like any tool, can be used for good or for evil.

When my daughter was 2, I started teaching her to read. I taught her mmmmm. I taught her eeeeeeee. I taught her mmmmmeeeeee. ME! It was amazing! She could read! Just a little word, but it was a start. And when she was older, she became a reader. She read first thing in the morning. She read into the night. She read during school time. She read during her free time. But when I found her reading during job time, I put down my foot. Too much reading! Yet, that was just what I had taught her to do! And then we were in the car. I spot a bumper sticker with unsavory words on it. Suddenly realizing that she could read that, I gently press the breaks and change lanes. There was a word I did not want her sounding out. Reading became a burden--not one we were not willing to carry, but a great responsibility, a tool to wield with wisdom. And it starts at day one. Whenever our children are reading, it should be for good, for goodness, to help them become a better person. The years we have when our children are little are so precious, so important, and so short! And excuse me for being blunt, but there are so many books out there written for children that are just not worth reading.

Really good education takes a lot of time, an immensely greater amount of time than the many shortcut versions that pass for teaching, but are really only producing a cheap product in a short amount of time. Any good idea taken out of context is dangerous. Sharing? Good idea! Forcing everyone to share...well, that is another post I will probably never write, but you get the idea. Reading? Good idea IF equal footing is given to what we are reading. The danger is, as the scripture says, that our wisdom is foolishness and we will not profit from it. The blessing, on the other hand, is that our reading can bring us in contact with the greatest minds in history, and even better, the greatest minds in eternity! What an amazing blessing!