Wide Angle Lenz [beta]

In my current state of unemployment I am working for the non-profit group Waypoint Services as a before- and after-school daycare substitute. This program consists of a head “teacher” and assistant watching over kids, kindergarten through fifth grade, for a couple hours on each side of the school day. When one is unavailable they call a sub with the hours available. That’s where I come in, and until the end of the school year I’ll be at the same elementary school every morning and afternoon.

Last week was my first time at this particular school, and the first week of my fortnight there. On my second day I overheard the “teacher” reprimanding a seven-year-old girl for reading too much in front of half the class. That’s right, got in trouble for showing interest and reading longer than expected. I didn’t jump in, guns a blazin’, trying to rashly figure out why this was happening. Instead, after the seven-year-old was finished being embarrassed by the adult, I attempted to ask if there was a reading program that Waypoint was encouraging that I was unaware of, or whatever reason might make up for what just happened – and I asked as we are both surrounded by the entire class. What did happen, though, made it worse. The sorry excuse for a teacher told me little Elizabeth was a part of a reading program hosted by the Cedar Rapids Kernals, which is dependant on minutes read, and that there was no way she (the enthusiastic seven-year-old Elizabeth) could have read 90 minutes because she “is a really bad reader.” Saying this for the entire class to hear. (I soon found out that this “teacher” has had a nasty habit of making fun of this little girl already)

I looked over and Elizabeth is sitting at her table, Harry Potter and the Sourcerer’s Stone in hand bookmarked at page 90, with her head down in embarrassment.

How unacceptable can you get? We need to be encouraging reading. Be it poetry, novels, comics, manga, or pop-up books, parents and teachers have a responsibility to encourage reading. If your child, or a child you are taking care of, likes to read, and is found reading, SUPPORT THEM. Don’t you dare sarcastically tell them they’re bad at it, fueling other kids to make fun of her too. Help them embrace it and let them make the decision of whether they’re going to be a lifelong reader.  Find ways to support literature and language development, like the popular vocabulary quizzing Free Rice.

When I went over to her and praised her for reading what she had, she shyly looked up at me and smiled, and I saw her swell with pride just a little bit.