Read in the papers the other day that a survey on reading habits showed that 6 out of 10 Singaporeans did not read a single book in 2002. I'm sure I must have been one of those 6 who went through a whole year without completing a book. Very much the story of my working life. Thankfully, I am now able to read a lot more, though not as much as I would like to. But I do have a lot of housework and other stuff to do.
Moral of the story: Stop work if you want to read more; do less work if you can't stop work so you can read more.
Time for another complaint. Most primary schools that I know of have 'Silent Reading' at the start of the school day, before the actual morning (or afternoon) assembly. For this, the son has to be in school, seated and reading a book, by 7.10am. Now, it is not that bad for us because we are less than a 10-minute walk away from the school but imagine what time the kids who take the school or public bus have to get up. Just so that they can have a silent read before school starts.
I believe it used to be called USSR - Uninterrupted Something-or-other (Supervised?) Silent Reading - and was implemented sometime in the 1980s (I think). While at least someone had the presence of mind to stop calling it USSR, perhaps it is time for a re-think of the whole idea. Perhaps someone should do a survey about the effects of this silent business on children's reading habits. Does it really cultivate a love for reading? Or does it just force children to sit quietly with a book for 10 minutes?
By his own admission, most of the time the son is doing silent looking (at the pictures in the book), not reading. I don't blame him. It's too early in the morning and sometimes, it is still a little dark. You are sitting at the assembly square with whole mass of other children. Not very conducive for reading, I must say.
Couldn't schools be more creative in how they encourage children to read? If it is that important - and surely it is - reading should be subsumed within curriculum time, for both English and Mother Tongue lessons. Wouldn't it make more sense in that context?
I am reminded of two things I have read about reading. This person called Francis Bacon said 'Reading maketh the man.' (Who is Francis Bacon, by the way?) Maybe people don't see it that way anymore? They really should.
The other is Victoria Beckham proclaiming she has not read a book in her life!! Imagine that! I wonder if David Beckham himself has got a similarly clean record. An ex-colleague told me that he (Beckham) passed 3 O level subjects. Was literature one of them?
Moral of the story: Stop work if you want to read more; do less work if you can't stop work so you can read more.
Time for another complaint. Most primary schools that I know of have 'Silent Reading' at the start of the school day, before the actual morning (or afternoon) assembly. For this, the son has to be in school, seated and reading a book, by 7.10am. Now, it is not that bad for us because we are less than a 10-minute walk away from the school but imagine what time the kids who take the school or public bus have to get up. Just so that they can have a silent read before school starts.
I believe it used to be called USSR - Uninterrupted Something-or-other (Supervised?) Silent Reading - and was implemented sometime in the 1980s (I think). While at least someone had the presence of mind to stop calling it USSR, perhaps it is time for a re-think of the whole idea. Perhaps someone should do a survey about the effects of this silent business on children's reading habits. Does it really cultivate a love for reading? Or does it just force children to sit quietly with a book for 10 minutes?
By his own admission, most of the time the son is doing silent looking (at the pictures in the book), not reading. I don't blame him. It's too early in the morning and sometimes, it is still a little dark. You are sitting at the assembly square with whole mass of other children. Not very conducive for reading, I must say.
Couldn't schools be more creative in how they encourage children to read? If it is that important - and surely it is - reading should be subsumed within curriculum time, for both English and Mother Tongue lessons. Wouldn't it make more sense in that context?
I am reminded of two things I have read about reading. This person called Francis Bacon said 'Reading maketh the man.' (Who is Francis Bacon, by the way?) Maybe people don't see it that way anymore? They really should.
The other is Victoria Beckham proclaiming she has not read a book in her life!! Imagine that! I wonder if David Beckham himself has got a similarly clean record. An ex-colleague told me that he (Beckham) passed 3 O level subjects. Was literature one of them?
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