All my life, I've loved reading. As a kid, I'd take a book to the mall (when dragged there by my parents) and read my way through the stores, somehow avoiding collisions with mannequins and other people. So when I heard myself telling my second grader to do his "reading homework" last night, the situation suddenly struck me as strange. His reading homework is just that: reading for pleasure. Any book he wants. And yet it's structured as homework.
I honestly can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. He's not a kid that's naturally drawn to pleasure reading, so the nightly assignment could - maybe, hopefully - create a habit he learns to love. (pro) On the other hand, nobody wants to do homework, so naturally he resists. (con)
What are your thoughts? Should reading for pleasure be structured as homework, or not?
Comments