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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
Commedian and former teacher Sam Levinson said that as a student he was taught not to read. I have to agree, my education was similar. I knew how to read, from fairly early on. But it was difficult. I sometimes had to read a paragraph over and over, four or five times or even more, because I didn't understand it. It was as if my mind was wandering while I mechanically read the text. I almost never finished a book. I think I must have only finished a half dozen books between first grade and my second year of college. Now, I read one or two books a week.
One of the complaints I have about my education is that I was taught to dislike reading. I had to read books that I would never have read in a thousand years (or so it seemed). I had to write a book report; and I didn't know how to write a book report. At least there should have been more books that were fun to read. And they should have taught the various skills that I needed, like how to study. I was a poor student, in every way.
I don't really know how to improve things very much, in this case. But I would say that reading should be shown to be fun. It is a lot of fun. Maybe things are better now.