How Teacher Make Kids Hate Reading

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How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading John Holt, a fifth grade English Teacher, makes several valid points in his article “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading”. We all know when children start off in school they have an unconditional excitement about reading and somewhere in adolescents that is lost. More often than not, teachers are caught up in making sure their children are up to grade level and the excitement of learning is lost.” Children are being forced to understand everything they read, however is this really necessary? Are traditional methods of teaching really foolish? Studies show in life we start out with a very extensive vocabulary in which we learned with repetition. In this article John Holt provides an overabundance of useful information to back his claim up. Mr. Holt noticed in extensive studies that in traditional teaching standards; a child is asked to read certain books which, have no interest to the child. After reading the boring novel follows an extensive vocabulary research and various discussions about the book, reassuring the student “understands” each and every aspect of the book in which they just read. There is an unspoken competition in open discussions in the classroom, along with underlying punishment for those who do not understand. The article shows children are placed on a pass or fail platform in front of their peers causing humiliation and pain. When they answer a question incorrectly, not only does the child know they failed, the whole class has watched them fail. Fear and public humiliation seem to create a block that causes a child to shy away from the unsure. This may not seem sensible but it is natural even in the brightest of children. Now that Mr. Holt understood the problem he took carful time and consideration in figuring out the solution, carefully weighing the pros

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