My grand-daughter, Shaye, has a bad case of not-finish-itis. She starts lots of books, but seldom finishes them. The question is, what to do??
First, I asked Shaye to self-diagnose. “Do you know why you’re not finishing your books?” asked I.
“Yes, another book looks more interesting.”
“Ah…an advanced case of the-grass-looks-greener,” I murmured. “I have just the cure for that.”
“Shaye, honey, good readers do four things to solve this problem:
- They’re very careful when selecting their books.
- They pay careful attention to the first chapter, asking lots of questions.
- They make a prediction at the end of every chapter.
- They have a special place for the books they’re going to read next. That’s called having a reading plan.”
Shaye and I went to the bookstore and spent about an hour picking out one book for now and one book for later. We went home and I read the first chapter out loud to her, modeling how good readers ask questions and predict. Finally, we went in her room and chose a spot (an empty drawer) for the books she planned to read next.
I’ll keep you posted.