When I sent my kids to school this morning, an unusual sight greeted me.
In a class full very active 7-year-olds, more likely to play outside with their typical boundless morning energy, there was a young girl who was content to simply read at her desk.
I was so impressed that I made it a point to chat with her – and was doubly pleased when my daughter informed me that she has read that same book earlier.
Now, two things struck me here.
One – when we make books easily available, kids WILL pick them up.
Two – we should not think that it’s a waste of space or energy to offer story books in classrooms especially for younger kids, just because we think they prefer playing instead.
In this case, their class teacher has a small collection of story books on a not-steel shelving at the back of their classroom. This morning’s case proved that despite the rather sad looking collection, one student find a book interesting enough for her to read instead of running outside like what most of her classmates were doing.
And for a parent and strong reading advocate, that was such a wonderful sight to see.
