These small steps can go a long way toward promoting your middle-school student's literacy. A junior-high student's transition into high-school literature classes can quickly become an exciting adventure.
Encourage Literacy in Your Middle-School Student
First, a child should be encouraged to read good literature. Use the resources available. Find book lists online. Read book reviews. Ask friends for advice. The Book Tree, by Elizabeth McCallum and Jane Scott, is a wonderful resource for children’s literature. Avoid just handing your student the latest bestseller. Give him challenging, timeless works that will stretch his intellect and spark his imagination.
Invest in Your Junior-High Student's Reading
A home library is priceless. Do not rely solely on the local library. Buy timeless works that your child will read many times. Veritas Press is a wonderful resource for age-appropriate, beautifully bound works. Owning a variety of wonderful, classical works will allow your student to have access to good literature at any time.
Discuss Literature with Your Student
A child should be encouraged to talk about the works he is reading. Read the book out loud together. If there is not time to read together, at least read the same book separately and discuss it during drives to sporting events or school functions. Discuss the plot-line, the setting, and the historical context of the work. Talk about favorite characters.
Encouraging a junior-high student to discuss a piece of literature will help him to remember the book. Talking about it often will help a student actively think about the work rather than just passively absorbing it. Ask your child simple questions about the work:
- Who is his favorite character?
- Why?
- What role does his favorite character play?
- Who is the main character?
- Is the vocabulary simple or advanced?
Research Authors with Your Pre-Teen
Look up information about the author. Discuss how his or her background may be reflected in the work. Seemingly simplistic questions are great stepping-stones towards mature literary analysis. Do not be afraid to ask your student advanced questions as well.
The following can provide stimulating discussion:
- What types of signals does the author provide in the setting and dialogue?
- Do the characters change over time?
- What types of influence does the vocabulary have over your reactions as a reader?
- Is the work serious or satirical?
- Is the author trying to make a statement about society?
A middle-school student may struggle with these questions at first. However, over time, he will begin to not only answer the questions provided, but will begin to come up with his own as well. Help your child to see literature as more than passive entertainment. His reading and discussion skills will soar as he begins to enjoy literature in an entirely new way.
The transition from middle-school to high-school is an exciting turning-point in your student's education. A little time and money invested in his reading material now will yield great benefits later. As he begins to endure the challenges of high-school literature courses, his success will reward your early efforts to encourage literacy.
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