Since I'd been thinking about Nathan from an earlier posting, I thought it would be useful to reflect on the choices younger children make. During two weeks last month, I tape-recorded kindergarten through second grade students as they left the library, books in hand. I invited them to tell me what made them choose the ones they'd ended up borrowing. I wanted to pay closer attention to how and why they were making the choices they did.
In addition to family, school and social life, school-age children are also answering for themselves a host of questions about being a person. Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist, delineated eight stages of children's psycho-social growth. He wrote that children experience each stage as a conflict which can be resolved in one of two ways. In the group I tape-recorded, two of Erikson's stages can be seen. Kindergarten children address the idea of purpose. Erikson describes this stage of finding purpose as Initiative vs. Guilt. In this, they work to establish themselves as being able to make satisfying choices.
Children in first grade through puberty work on the stage of competence, comparing themselves to others. In Erikson's terms, it is Industry vs. Inferiority. Questions they may be asking: Am I fitting in? Are my choices good for me? Do others respect my choices?
These two stages can be seen in a summary of the reasons why the children chose a particular book last month:
- To follow or explore a personal interest
- To reflect on one's identity
- To claim time with a parent
- To revisit something heard before
- To find out about things, people, the world
- To hear the story suggested by the cover
- To laugh
- To practice reading
Although this idea has been discredited, its heritage persists in our culture. It is easy to fall into the sense that children's choices often don't advance worthy purposes. Indeed, their choices may seem to be random or arbitrary, often only deriving from what peers are choosing or from the latest cultural icons. And yet, one can often feel an underlying integrity in those choices, that something more is going on.
Hence the tape-recording. In their responses transcribed anonymously below, it is possible to identify at least one of the above reasons in each response, sometimes several. The responses also show a growth in reasoning as the children mature and refine their selection practices through the grades.
K Castle Diary (Fiction, 3-5th grade reading level) – It was sticking out of the shelf.
K Nicolo’s Unicorn (Picture book, fantasy) – Because I like unicorns.
K Alligators All Around (Picture book) – It’s the weensiest book.
K Star Wars (Fiction, chapter book, fourth grade reading level) I like Star Wars. I saw a Star Wars movie.
1 Snakes (Nonfiction, fourth grade reading level) – I wanted a real book about snakes because I don’t like fiction.
1 The Oakland Raiders (Nonfiction, fifth grade reading level) – It’s my favorite book because it’s about football. Football is in the Fall.
1 Deionychus (Nonfiction, fourth grade reading level) – I like dinosaurs. It’s my second favorite dinosaur. T. Rex is my first favorite.
1 Chicken and Egg (Nonfiction, second grade reading level) – I have chickens and they already laid seven eggs. And one of the hatched!
1 The Big Book of Cars (Nonfiction, fifth grade reading level) – I was looking for a book with Beetles and I found it in this one.
1 How I Became a Pirate (Picture book) – Pirates. Because I like it when they find gold.
2 The Ultimate Book of Cat Breeds – I chose this book because I really like cats. I have two but I used to have three. It’s a really big book.
2 Alaskan Malamutes (Nonfiction, sixth reading level) – I really like dogs—they’re so cute and soft and nice to look at. They’re my favorite animal.
2 The Enchanted
To reflect on one’s own identity
K Max (Picture book) – That’s my name!
K Magic Dreidels (Picture book) – Because I’m Jewish.
K Angelina Ballerina (Picture book) – I'm going to have ballet lessons.
1 The Candy Witch (Picture book) – Witches are close to Halloween and my birthday is almost at Halloween and witches are about Halloween and so I chose The Candy Witch.
2 Album of Reptiles (Nonfiction, fifth grade reading level) – I’m a reptile guy.
2 Dinosaurs (Nonfiction, third grade reading level) – I’m doing a study on dinosaurs. Everyone else in the class is too so I thought it would, you know, make me fit in. And it’s working.
To claim time with a parent or a family member
K Kidnapped at the Capitol (Easy Reader, second grade reading level) – My family is reading these [a series].
K Zia (Fiction, fifth grade reading level) –You know, the cover. Maybe someone will read it to me.
1 Tigers at Twilight (Easy Reader, chapter book) – I like Magic Tree House books. We read them at home.
2 Gershon’s Monster and Snowy Rollie – – I make mistakes too [like Gershon] and wanted to check this one out. I took this other one because I love the pictures and I think my little sister would like them too.
To revisit something heard before
K
K Miss Nelson is Missing (Picture book) – I liked when you read it to us.
1 Mean Soup (Picture book) – I liked it when you read it to us because it’s true.
2 Gotta Go! Gotta Go! (Picture book) – I took this home last year.
To find out about things, people, the world
K Beetle (Nonfiction, fourth grade reading level) – I didn’t ever choose a book like that before.
1 Motorcycles (Nonfiction, fourth grade reading level) – I like motorcycles and I like racing and I like how fast they go and they’re going down a hill and my favorite page is where the motorcycle is jumping through a fire loop and over 14 buses but I don’t know if they are Army buses or not.
1 Mountain Lions (Nonfiction, fifth grade reading level) – Because my mom goes on the mountains running. She does.
2
To see what story the cover shows
K Knuffle Bunny (Picture book) – I like the cover
1 The Great Hiss (Picture book) – Because it’s The Great Hissssssss and because of the snake on the cover.
1 The Road to Mumbai – (Picture book) Well, I looked through it and I really like it and was wondering what was in the story and I sort of like wanted to bring it home so my mom could read it to me.
To laugh
K Diary of a Worm (Picture book) – This is a silly book. I read the other one.
1 Traction Man is Here (Picture book) – Because it is so funny.
1 One Hundredth Day Worries (Picture book) – I chose this book because it’s funny and the girl worries about everything. She worries about losing her first tooth, missing the school bus, getting her math right and remembering her lunch money.
To practice reading
K Biscuit (Easy Reader, Readiness level) – My mom says I have to read to her.
1 Reptile (Nonfiction, easy reader level) – Because its short.
While I know the story behind a number of these choices, there are many more which interest and sometimes mystify me: a reminder that the life of the mind and finding one's way in the world begins very young. Also a reminder that wisdom--and competence--can be found in surprising places.
Here are the links to further information on topics mentioned above.
The Banking Method:
http://www.trentu.ca/academic/nativestudies/courses/nast305/banking.htm
Erik Erikson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Erikson#Erikson.27s_theory_of_personality
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