Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun • Hacker News Board

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#121

Post by jobs_throwaway » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:18 PM UTC

humansareok1 wrote: post #74

aetherson wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids? "Give your kids books they'd be interested in" is kind of classic meaningless advice. Like, sure, of course that's what you want to do -- except, if you have a kid who doesn't have an existing strong reading habit, how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. I have a nine-year-old daughter who definitely does read, but isn't a voracious r…

>how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. What a strange question? If they are interested in fantasy movies give them a fantasy book. If they're interested in mystery, the same. If they're interested in Dinosaurs, the same. How is this some great challenge? The things you like to read about are the same things you already like... Are you implying you kn…

Agree it seems odd. One thing the children in my life are NOT lacking is random interests. Sports books are a great avenue and often highly accessible for younger readers. Pretty much any hobby/niche interest has books that are suitable. Kid likes animals? Give them 'The Soul of an Octopus'. Kid likes scifi movies? Give em 'Childhood's End'. Its really not a challenge when you know them well.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#122

Post by gknoy » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:18 PM UTC

bluerooibos wrote: post #99

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

> rediscovered reading Any tips? I didn't, somehow. After leaving high school, then university, my brain went into full on "be productive all the time" mode. My brain somehow doesn't think reading is a good use of my time, so I've settled for audiobooks when falling asleep or on long drives. The last book I was able to devour and actually enjoyed was the Harry Potter series, which ended just before I went to universi…

Seconding the "audiobooks count" that Imzadi said, I'd like to note that the Martian audiobook is exceptional, and I've heard that others by Weir are excellent as well.

You might enjoy reading _short_ novels. I really liked the "All Systems Red" series, each of them feels short enough to read in a day. If you enjoyed Harry Potter, you might also enjoy the Invisible Library series, or maybe the Harry Dresden novels. They both felt like fun-pulpy romps through magical worlds.

Maybe you can convince your brain that reading at bedtime is a good use of time because it promotes healthy sleeping by not being on a screen. ;) (It hasn't worked for me, I still have a backlog two shelves long.)

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#123

Post by faeriechangling » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:19 PM UTC

65 wrote: post #68

Another issue is books are too long. Especially non-fiction books. Book publishers know no one is going to buy a 50 page book, so there has to be filler and excessive detail to make a book long enough to be sellable. It ends up just being the same thing over and over again. The author explaining minute details about the day they interviewed someone, what the weather was like, extreme details of the interviewee's faci…

Books are trending shorter since the advent of ebooks since a short ebook looks the same as a long ebook. So that DEFINITELY doesn’t seem causal to me.

I’ve also been hearing for a long time how novellas are the future of books and people simply don’t buy them and they remain a niche format and I don’t see that changing.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#124

Post by fullwaza » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:19 PM UTC

imzadi wrote: post #102

bluerooibos wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rediscovered reading Any tips? I didn't, somehow. After leaving high school, then university, my brain went into full on "be productive all the time" mode. My brain somehow doesn't think reading is a good use of my time, so I've settled for audiobooks when falling asleep or on long drives. The last book I was able to devour and actually enjoyed was the Harry Potter series, which ended just before I went to universi…

Well, first, audiobooks totally count. Have you tried Dungeon Crawler Carl?

Crazy timing, I'm listening to that series now, it's great!

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#125

Post by octokatt » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:19 PM UTC

bluerooibos wrote: post #99

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

> rediscovered reading Any tips? I didn't, somehow. After leaving high school, then university, my brain went into full on "be productive all the time" mode. My brain somehow doesn't think reading is a good use of my time, so I've settled for audiobooks when falling asleep or on long drives. The last book I was able to devour and actually enjoyed was the Harry Potter series, which ended just before I went to universi…

It sounds like you enjoy books, the problem is convincing yourself you deserve to take time to read them. To quiet that anxiety:

> The habit of reading is a meaningful way to meditatively intake large portions of information. Reading helps with creativity, focus, and communication. Reading light-hearted, entertaining books increases these skills while preserving focus for work in a way that reading the latest O'Reilly book does not, while making reading non-fiction books in the future easier because you've been practicing reading.

Separately, humans are not machines. In general, we aren't wired to constantly be doing things, and taking time to play or to enjoy stories or to do absolutely nothing is an entirely necessary maintenance task.

Removing joy and rest from your life for productivity is the biological equivalent of accumulating technical debt. This debt can intensify until you need a complete rewrite; when this happens, it's called burn out, and it's kinda really bad.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#126

Post by jobs_throwaway » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:21 PM UTC

quirk wrote: post #119

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #36

I don't particularly buy any of the explanations given in the article, or ITT for that matter. I had tons of screen time as a child, that didn't stop me from reading a ton then or now. Schools (and I) were just as test-focused back then. I wasn't getting book recs from my peers so that doesn't make sense to me either. Maybe I'm an anomaly here but I never found the books targeted at children/teens especially interest…

This is good advice. My 9yr old reads adult fiction, so long as I have read it and don't think there's anything too "adult" in there. I'm saving Heinlein for his teen years lol.

Yeah, a bit of supervision at that age is appropriate, but my advice is don't screen their books for too long! If they're mature enough to be actively seeking out mature titles, you trying to gatekeep them isn't going to prevent them reading what they want to for long. Better to let them make their own choices and discuss sensitive topics with them as adults.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#127

Post by bamboozled » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:22 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

I never really had any homework, or I never did it. I never read for pleasure either. I don't think it's that, but I get your point. Too busy = no time for reading for fun

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#128

Post by boringg » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:23 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

When can we change our education to promote better educational outcomes instead of training for the test or alternatively being devoid of fundamental knowledge/skills? It feels like we should be progressing in this area much faster then we are. Yes - i know - its way to broad of a question.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#129

Post by iknowSFR » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:25 PM UTC

bluerooibos wrote: post #99

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

> rediscovered reading Any tips? I didn't, somehow. After leaving high school, then university, my brain went into full on "be productive all the time" mode. My brain somehow doesn't think reading is a good use of my time, so I've settled for audiobooks when falling asleep or on long drives. The last book I was able to devour and actually enjoyed was the Harry Potter series, which ended just before I went to universi…

Try Brandon Sanderson novels.

General change to my habits has been that if I’m not feeling a story, it’s okay to put it down. The amount of reading I have trudged through because I was afraid of quitting…

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#130

Post by nullhole » Tue, May 07, 2024, 6:25 PM UTC

bluerooibos wrote: post #99

gwbas1c wrote: post #88

Take a closer look at how much homework children have, and how much assigned, mandatory reading children have. I went to a private "college prep" high school, and the amount of assigned, mandatory reading was insane. I spent so much time reading assigned novels that I just didn't have time to read for pleasure. (And why read for pleasure if I already spent 30+ minutes reading a boring / awful novel as part of my home…

> rediscovered reading Any tips? I didn't, somehow. After leaving high school, then university, my brain went into full on "be productive all the time" mode. My brain somehow doesn't think reading is a good use of my time, so I've settled for audiobooks when falling asleep or on long drives. The last book I was able to devour and actually enjoyed was the Harry Potter series, which ended just before I went to universi…

One key thing is: don't feel like you have to suffer through reading an entire book if you don't like it. If it's a chore to read it, find something else - different author, or different type of book.