True Literacy Confession: I Skip Text and Never Look Back

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Currently, I'm reading All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending by Laura Vanderkam. This the second book I've read by Vanderkam. Earlier this year, I read her book about time management, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. You can read that post here, on my other blog My Ideal Reality.

I enjoy Vanderkam's books because they challenge me in a couple of ways. First, she introduces fresh perspectives on common topics, and that puts my brain into overdrive. Second, while her books are pretty much "just right" for my reading level, on occasion my literacy comprehension skills are put to the test, especially when percentages, statistics and other numerical data fill the pages. My brain stops working. I envision it grinding to a halt.


Here comes the true confession part of this blog ...

Instead of staying the course and figuring out those numbers and what they mean to me, I skipped those parts. No big deal, right? Maybe. But here's the shocking part: I never looked back. We tell our students and our children that it's ok to skip confusing words or information and continue reading as long as they go back and fix their thinking. Yeah, well, I didn't fix my thinking. I just plowed on through. (hangs head in shame)

Granted, I'm a proficient reader and I know that if I really need to understand that information I can - and will - go back and work through it. I have that self-discipline.

But here's the thing: young readers and striving readers don't have that self-discipline. They skip and never look back. My question to you is, "How do we instill literacy discipline in them?"

I'd love to hear your thoughts as well as any true confessions about literacy-related sins you may have committed.

Thanks for reading! It keeps your ... Mind Full of Literacy!