When I was visiting a library in Halifax this summer, I overheard a German family discussing some videos that the pre-teen children were choosing. The parents were looking over the case of a video somehow related to Shakespeare – I’m guessing it might have been that version of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo Dicaprio.“Is this really educative?” asked the mother. (She said “educative” rather than “educational.”)
The father took the case. “I don’t think they have anything to do with Shakespeare these days,” he observed.
They proceeded to discuss the item in terms of morality, quality, entertainment and educational value.
Listening to the conversation, I realized two things; one is that this is probably a good thing; the other is how rare this kind of care is among parents these days. In the whole week I spent in that library, this was the only family in which the parents were actively engaged in the values of their children’s choice of material. Everything about it would be foreign to so many people; encouraging kids to go to the library, going with them as a family, reviewing and discussing the material they choose, caring, talking to them about it, knowing something about it …
For me, it was as though the conversation was from another world. Where I live in Mexico, libraries are few and far between, and the few that exist are way underused. It would be a miracle that parents even encourage their kids to go to a library, let alone care what their kids are doing there. When my wife and I arrived to Canada, she was simply overjoyed to have a good library right in the community, within walking distance. While I think there’s a better culture for visiting the library, but I suspect it’s much more for entertainment than for learning. I also suspect that few parents actually supervise and discuss the educational, moral and quality value of what their kids choose.
With only a 3-year-old, I it’s not much of a task to review the content of the books yet. That’s coming in a few years. I suspect one day we’ll be that odd family in the library who actually cares about all of that stuff.
We need more libraries in Playa del Carmen. [México), but people never is intersting, Mexican people don´t have cultur about the importance of the libraries. Es muy triste ver que los padres prefieren llevar a sus hijos al internet que a una biblioteca por que solo pegan y copian la informacion que los niños necesitan para sus tareas, y lo peor de todo es que creo que ni los padres sabes buscar libros en la biblioteca, por eso no llevan a sus hijos, ademas de que tenemos muy pocas.
ReplyDeleteTranslation of the last comment: It's very sad to see that parents prefer to take their children to an Internet cafe instead of a library, since they can just copy and paste the information that children need for their homework, and worst of all is that I think that not even the parents know how to find books in the library, and for that reason they don't bring their kids. Plus we have very few [libraries].
ReplyDeleteI agree with that comment. I live in Playa and there are only 2 small libraries. Not even the expensive private schools have libraries. I've only seen one school with a library and it's one of the poor ones. But little by little, I hope ...
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is 4, and we already are that ODD family :). But here is not that odd. I think in the area where I live the odd family is the one that never goes to the library. In the city where we live is kind of PART of parenthood, to bring your kids to the library, to choose the books with them, to talk about the books.
ReplyDeleteIn my case I let my daughter to choose the books. She choose them randomly from an specific designated area I let her choose from -previously analyzed with the librarian- She chooses 4 or 5 and we read them during the week , we go once or twice per week to the library. Sometimes to change her books every time to change mine.
They know, both kids - the other one is 2- the routine. We go first to return my books and check out new books for mommy. then we go for theirs and we read there ONE book with each one of them and then we go home. We are there 45-50 minutes or so.
But I know that wouldn't be something I would had done if I lived, still, in Mexico. I would bring them to the book shop for sure to buy books. As my father did with me. And I'll encourage them to read but until they were 8 or 9yo, no 4, no 2...And we wouldn't buy books twice a week, to expensive..... and libraries.. don't have to much material for kids sadly.
So I love the fact here. Reading is common for my kids, is like "well everybody reads, that is the coolest thing ever, more than tv .. :) "
In the last 2 weeks my kids had seen the TV 30 minutes, but I have read to them 15 books in total and we had discussed -my 4yo and I- 5 of them several times. And my 2yo learned more words from the books I check out for him.. and that is a lot to say of a boy in the autism spectrum that was no verbal a few months ago.
my daughter asked me a long time ago why I liked to read, and I told her that when I read Is like when she pretends to be a doctor, or a mermaid, I can pretend I'm there in the book with the characters, in their world and then I can learn what they are living, what they are doing, what they are learning. Since then she pays more attention to the stories I read to her. :)
I like the way you do things! I think routine is important; when kids "know the routine" as yours do, there's not much to figure out - it's just the way you do it. Going to the library definitely is a cultural thing, much stronger in some places than others.
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