Read Well, Think Well

The title of the book I'm reviewing today, Read Well, Think Well, caught my attention.  As a homeschool mom, I'm always looking for books that might help me to be a better teacher to my children.  But, this book is not targeted at homeschool parents, but at ALL parents who want to instill both a love of reading and a reading confidence in their children.  If your children are being taught in the local public school (or in a private school setting), you still have a responsibility to be proactive when it comes to their reading.  A teacher who is responsible for a large number of children in a classroom setting simply does not have the time or the resources to fully prepare your child to Read Well and to Think Well.

The author of Read Well, Think Well says: "Comprehension is a reader’s ability to understand the meaning of a book, a play, an article, a poem.  This is a very complex human skill involving many different types of thinking processes.  Many parents are familiar with programs that address…phonics.  Programs like Hooked on Phonics do a great job developing these skills.  There are far fewer resources available to parents who want to build vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension skills.  That’s where I come in.  Read Well, Think Well, is for parents—and teachers—who want to help children build vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

            "Gone are the days when a youngster could leave high school and support a family by going to work in a factory.  Today, the ability to read critically is a basic economic necessity—a survival skill.  An unwritten rule of modern American economics is “read well or starve.”  Ours is a knowledge economy, one that stresses the finding and disseminating of information rather than the manufacturing of goods.  High-level reading is now an entry-level skill."

Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D., is a premiere teacher trainer in New York City, specializing in middle-grade and young-adult literacy. He is the winner of the 1997 Frank W. Dilley Award, Walden University’s annual prize for outstanding doctoral dissertation. Dr. Lanse, a consultant with the UFT Teacher Center, trains teachers in current literacy research and shows them how to turn the research into daily classroom practice. He has also taught many parent workshops for the United Federation of Teachers. Lanse lives with his son, Kenny, in New York,NY.

In this book, you will learn how to:

• Choose the best, age-appropriate reading material
• Boost your child's memory and retention skills through verbal and visual exercises
• Utilize technology aids to help your child understand the comprehension process
• Understand the "Big Six" skills of reading comprehension, as learned through analysis and summary of the text
• Promote values for everyday life through reading

Heidi Says: As I was reading through this book, I was thinking that it really isn't applicable to most homeschool parents that I know.  I think because homeschooling parents are working more one-on-one with their children, they tend to already incorporate a lot of the ideas that are introduced and explained in this book.  However, if my child were in the school system, I would definitely be incorporating these ideas into our home routine, as I feel that the author has touched on some very important concepts that are often overlooked in teaching children reading and, more importantly, comprehension.  Some of the parts of this book that I particularly enjoyed are the Idiomatic Expressions (in chapter 5), the Popular Proverbs & Sayings (in chapter 6), and the Memory Games (in chapter 7).  There is a lot of "meat" in this book - I would encourage each parent to read this book and take from it just what he/she needs to "feed" a child great reading comprehension skills. 

   

Comments

[Meredith]

Sounds like a great book! We need to be training our children to understand, not just sound out words! I meet so many public school grads who have comprehension and reading levels that are at elementary levels. How sad! Homeschooling and private schools don't make their graduates strong readers by automatically, they need to invest in this area! I'm interested in the author's methods of building fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary! Thank you, Heidi!