Seeking a quote that likens learning to read to an acrobatic task

April 30, 2014 9:44 PM

Asking for a Montessori teacher friend: Can anyone help me find a quote about learning to read? It likens the task of reading to an acrobatic task. I can't remember the origin and haven't been able to come up with a single clue. It's just the perfect way to sum up the "reading process system" which is a boring way to say all the stuff that happens in your brain when you read. I need it for a reading workshop on Saturday. Thanks!
posted by librarina to Grab Bag (1 answer total)

Searching Google Books for "'reading process' gymnastics" I found a book by William Anton Smith called The Reading Process which claims that word mastery - related to learning to read but not the same thing (as noted in the text) - is like gymnastics or throwing a ball at a target. It cites Huey's 1908 book The Psychology of Reading as the originator of this claim. A search through that book for the word "ball" led me to two claims, the first likening the reading process to throwing a ball and the second about reading aloud and likening that to athletic activities like throwing a ball or ice-skating.

Hope this helps.
posted by sockermom at 2:25 AM on May 1, 2014