Michael Gove: Children should read 50 books a year

seagull · 03-25-2011, 02:36 PM

The UK's Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has suggested that children as young as 11 should be reading 50 books a year. However, some authors have raised doubts about this.

I personally believe that 50 is a bit of a high target for most children, I probably read 50 a year now but I have access to free public domain titles that most children probably wouldn't (they would have access obviously but I doubt they'd have an e-reader). I'd like to see the government actually doing something to encourage reading, rather than cutting Bookstart, which provides free books to children.

GraceKrispy · 03-25-2011, 02:56 PM

Hmm. Well, I don't like the idea of putting a goal with a number on books. I already have an intrinsic love of reading, so my goal of 100 books is no big deal to me. Even so, it does change the feel of reading, just a bit. For a child who may not have that intrinsic love of reading, I think it's not such a great idea to put a number goal.

I think we have far too many "rules" about what kids "should" be achieving, and we forget the individual touches that make things interesting. That being said, I'm sure my kids are right in line with 50 books, if not more. But we are a reading household (except my husband, who *may* have read 1 book last year), so it's hard to judge what this would look like in a house filled with reluctant or nonreaders.

abookreader · 03-25-2011, 03:05 PM

Reading the article it seems that most of the objection comes from the at odds actions of stating kids should be reading 50 books a year and then smacking down the funding of Public Libraries.

When my older kids were in Grade School I did a mini-parental revolt by refusing to fill out those "Free Reading Logs." Free reading shouldn't have to be logged, monitored, or approved by your Mommy. Nothing kills a bucket of fun quite like turning it into homework.

I bought books and comics and Sports Illustrated magazines and I left them lying around the house and let nature take its course.

Hamlet53 · 03-25-2011, 03:16 PM

I also think setting a numerical goal is foolish. There is already to much emphasis on numerical goals, standardized testing, and test scores in education already. That and saying something like “read 50 books a year” would have unintended consequences. So say in high school reading 10 short (~150 page) fluff novels, would be 10 times better than reading Lord of the Rings?

Hellmark · 03-25-2011, 03:20 PM

Personally, I find the excuse of lack of availability not valid. I personally have less access now than when I was a kid. In elementary school, we were in the school library at least once a week. In Middle school, it more or less was the same. It didn't get until high school that trips to the library wasn't mandatory, but I still walked by one every day. Now as an adult I can drive to the library, and have ereaders and the like, but I still have to put out the effort. I wasn't right at one every day.

Joykins · 03-25-2011, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abookreader

When my older kids were in Grade School I did a mini-parental revolt by refusing to fill out those "Free Reading Logs." Free reading shouldn't have to be logged, monitored, or approved by your Mommy. Nothing kills a bucket of fun quite like turning it into homework.

We negotiated a deal whereby we fill the whole thing out at the beginning of the month saying he's done his reading. The teacher was keeping him in from recess because it wasn't signed, and each time it wasn't signed it wasn't because he didn't read, but because he forgot to ask a parent to sign it that night. He has reading time every day and is reading 2 levels above grade and the teacher knows it, that's why she told us to just sign it at the beginning of the month.

Joykins · 03-25-2011, 03:47 PM

I find the idea of reading less than 50 books a year kind of baffling, especially kids' books which are short. That's one book a week, with 2 weeks off for good behavior, and I'm assuming picture books would count.

spellbanisher · 03-25-2011, 05:45 PM

It is so easy to read fifty books in a year if you know what to read. In fact, I bet kids could easily read a book a day. I'll start the list:

Day 1. The Cat in the Hat
Day 2. Green Eggs and Ham
Day 3. Horton Hears a Who!

abookreader · 03-25-2011, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

It is so easy to read fifty books in a year if you know what to read. In fact, I bet kids could easily read a book a day. I'll start the list:

Day 1. The Cat in the Hat
Day 2. Green Eggs and Ham
Day 3. Horton Hears a Who!

which is pretty much what about 42% of the 5th grade class who is told they have to read 10 books this semester will try to do.

Worldwalker · 03-25-2011, 10:52 PM

My first reaction to "children should read 50 books a year" was "why limit them to so few?"

I remember when I was old enough to get my "adult" library card (I believe I was 8) and I could take out all the books I wanted, not just four like the little kids. I piled up an armload I couldn't see over when I stumbled out to Dad's car with it. I did that every week. I could read a typical kid's book in an hour or less; I was going through 10 a week with no trouble. And that's not counting what I got from the school library, and what I had of my own, and my parents' books.

But you can't force kids to enjoy reading. I read because my parents read. And I still do. If you want to sit down around here, step 1: move the books.

wyndslash · 03-25-2011, 11:03 PM

did the education secretary put out a suggested reading list for children? i think that'd be more productive than lip service...

JeremyR · 03-25-2011, 11:46 PM

50 books a month would be too much. But a year? That's less than one a week.

Back in the days before TV and comic books, there were pulp magazines. Some of these, like The Shadow, came out twice a month. While they are hardly Harry Potter, they were probably 200 pages in book form, so short novels.

It was expected that fans would read them twice a month, not to mention the other pulps the magazine put out (like Doc Savage and The Spider and a couple others).

OtterBooks · 03-26-2011, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremyR

It was expected that fans would read them twice a month, not to mention the other pulps the magazine put out (like Doc Savage and The Spider and a couple others).

I recently read a Doc Savage novel. Stuff is hilarious.

Richey79 · 03-26-2011, 05:35 AM

Compared to the education secretaries we've had over the past decade, Michael Gove seems to have his head screwed on for the most part (Ruth Kelly, anyone? Balls by name, Balls by dictat).

His having said this doesn't fill you with confidence that he understands the challenges with (functional) literacy facing those children who aren't middle class, though.

silverraven · 03-26-2011, 06:44 PM

Quote:

When my older kids were in Grade School I did a mini-parental revolt by refusing to fill out those "Free Reading Logs." Free reading shouldn't have to be logged, monitored, or approved by your Mommy. Nothing kills a bucket of fun quite like turning it into homework.

Wish I had had the guts to do that!!

S

03-25-2011, 02:36 PM	#1
seagull Addict Posts: 247 Karma: 89950 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Amazon Kindle 2	Michael Gove: Children should read 50 books a year The UK's Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has suggested that children as young as 11 should be reading 50 books a year. However, some authors have raised doubts about this. I personally believe that 50 is a bit of a high target for most children, I probably read 50 a year now but I have access to free public domain titles that most children probably wouldn't (they would have access obviously but I doubt they'd have an e-reader). I'd like to see the government actually doing something to encourage reading, rather than cutting Bookstart, which provides free books to children.

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03-25-2011, 02:56 PM	#2
GraceKrispy It's Dr. Penguin now! Posts: 3,909 Karma: 4705733 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: (USA) Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)	Hmm. Well, I don't like the idea of putting a goal with a number on books. I already have an intrinsic love of reading, so my goal of 100 books is no big deal to me. Even so, it does change the feel of reading, just a bit. For a child who may not have that intrinsic love of reading, I think it's not such a great idea to put a number goal. I think we have far too many "rules" about what kids "should" be achieving, and we forget the individual touches that make things interesting. That being said, I'm sure my kids are right in line with 50 books, if not more. But we are a reading household (except my husband, who may have read 1 book last year), so it's hard to judge what this would look like in a house filled with reluctant or nonreaders.

03-25-2011, 03:05 PM	#3
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	Reading the article it seems that most of the objection comes from the at odds actions of stating kids should be reading 50 books a year and then smacking down the funding of Public Libraries. When my older kids were in Grade School I did a mini-parental revolt by refusing to fill out those "Free Reading Logs." Free reading shouldn't have to be logged, monitored, or approved by your Mommy. Nothing kills a bucket of fun quite like turning it into homework. I bought books and comics and Sports Illustrated magazines and I left them lying around the house and let nature take its course.

03-25-2011, 03:16 PM	#4
Hamlet53 Nameless Being	I also think setting a numerical goal is foolish. There is already to much emphasis on numerical goals, standardized testing, and test scores in education already. That and saying something like “read 50 books a year” would have unintended consequences. So say in high school reading 10 short (~150 page) fluff novels, would be 10 times better than reading Lord of the Rings?

03-25-2011, 03:20 PM	#5
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,592 Karma: 4290425 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Personally, I find the excuse of lack of availability not valid. I personally have less access now than when I was a kid. In elementary school, we were in the school library at least once a week. In Middle school, it more or less was the same. It didn't get until high school that trips to the library wasn't mandatory, but I still walked by one every day. Now as an adult I can drive to the library, and have ereaders and the like, but I still have to put out the effort. I wasn't right at one every day.

03-25-2011, 03:47 PM	#7
Joykins Wizard Posts: 1,612 Karma: 9211856 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: kindle Oasis 2018, kindle 4 NT, kindle PW2, iPhone, iPad mini	I find the idea of reading less than 50 books a year kind of baffling, especially kids' books which are short. That's one book a week, with 2 weeks off for good behavior, and I'm assuming picture books would count.

03-25-2011, 05:45 PM	#8
spellbanisher Guru Posts: 826 Karma: 6566849 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bay Area Device: kindle keyboard, kindle fire hd, S4, Nook hd+	It is so easy to read fifty books in a year if you know what to read. In fact, I bet kids could easily read a book a day. I'll start the list: Day 1. The Cat in the Hat Day 2. Green Eggs and Ham Day 3. Horton Hears a Who!

03-25-2011, 10:52 PM	#10
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	My first reaction to "children should read 50 books a year" was "why limit them to so few?" I remember when I was old enough to get my "adult" library card (I believe I was 8) and I could take out all the books I wanted, not just four like the little kids. I piled up an armload I couldn't see over when I stumbled out to Dad's car with it. I did that every week. I could read a typical kid's book in an hour or less; I was going through 10 a week with no trouble. And that's not counting what I got from the school library, and what I had of my own, and my parents' books. But you can't force kids to enjoy reading. I read because my parents read. And I still do. If you want to sit down around here, step 1: move the books.

03-25-2011, 11:03 PM	#11
wyndslash Wizard Posts: 2,951 Karma: 3000001 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3 wifi, Kindle Fire	did the education secretary put out a suggested reading list for children? i think that'd be more productive than lip service...

03-25-2011, 11:46 PM	#12
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	50 books a month would be too much. But a year? That's less than one a week. Back in the days before TV and comic books, there were pulp magazines. Some of these, like The Shadow, came out twice a month. While they are hardly Harry Potter, they were probably 200 pages in book form, so short novels. It was expected that fans would read them twice a month, not to mention the other pulps the magazine put out (like Doc Savage and The Spider and a couple others).

03-26-2011, 05:35 AM	#14
Richey79 mrkrgnao Posts: 241 Karma: 237248 Join Date: May 2010 Device: PRS650, K3 Wireless, Galaxy S3, iPad 3.	Compared to the education secretaries we've had over the past decade, Michael Gove seems to have his head screwed on for the most part (Ruth Kelly, anyone? Balls by name, Balls by dictat). His having said this doesn't fill you with confidence that he understands the challenges with (functional) literacy facing those children who aren't middle class, though.

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