Wednesday, October 03, 2007

The curse of special needs reading: BORING books

Recently we ordered a set of the readers our 5th grader's teacher uses. We figured we could structure some work around them that would extend what the teacher has time to do, but be consistent with his plans.

There's only one problem. The material is boring. Dull. Tedious.

I assume it's what's left when anything that might offend anyone has been removed, but I was sedated just reviewing the titles. I dread trying to get my son to read this stuff.

Admittedly he doesn't have the widest range of interests, but there's enough. Exploration, construction, coast guard, rescue, natural disasters, mountain climbing, surgery, animal adventures, airplanes, submarines, aircraft carriers, bicycles, football, baseball, hockey, George Washington, bowling, archery, horses ...

You know, I bet it might even be possible to craft something that would be both non-sedating and non-threatening.

I get a bit batty with this sort of thing. It's hard enough to teach reading when it's an exhausting exercise for the reader, but adding boredom to the mix is fatal. Evidently exciting material doesn't sell, but that doesn't mean I have to like the situation.

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