Abstract: The free reading period and the classroom library are recognized today as an essential portion of the elementary school program. In the traditional schools it was customary for each pupil to study one text and read exact assignments at prescribed intervals. After the close of the first World War, investigation showed a usual decline in voluntary reading during adolescent years. A prevalent opinion existed among thinkers that public schools had done none too well in the development of a permanent love of reading. When the young people continued to read, there was considerable agitation over what they were reading. Gradually educators, including teachers and librarians, realized the necessity of a change in the reading program of the elementary school if reading were to have permanent value for the on-coming generation. They sought reasons why elementary schools had seemingly failed to develop permanent reading interests. The movement for free reading periods and classroom libraries has been fostered in a partial attempt to cause reading to become more universally essential. Today, more than at any other time, teachers realize the importance of reading in relation to the best development of children. In these days of world turmoil, the child is fortunate who has learned to seek recreation, information, and inspiration from books. Reading provides the individual with one of the most essential means for understanding himself in relation to others, for obtaining satisfaction as he gropes for enlightenment in new undertakings, and for challenging his thoughts for continuous growth. A classroom teacher of preadolescent children cannot be an authority on children's literature, a specialist in the field of child development, and an expert on the many technicalities involved in the reading process. Yet she is confronted daily by energetic young Americans who are eager to discover for themselves and who look to her for proper guidance, so it becomes her responsibility to provide appropriate and sufficient reading material to fulfil their needs. To meet such requirements more adequately it also becomes her duty, as far as possible, to inform herself on significant problems in child development and to become a student in the field of children's literature. The physical development of preadolescent children partially determines their reading interest and accomplishment. While there is
Publication Year: 1942
Publication Date: 1942-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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