Writer Sanctum
Reader's Library => Book Talk [Public] => Topic started by: Mark Gardner on October 19, 2018, 01:50:12 AM
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According to a study, growing up in a household with books makes you smarter:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/growing-surrounded-books-may-bolster-skills-later-life-180970523/
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I don't know how many books were in the house growing up. My mother had a large bookcase/display case that was mostly books, plus a smaller bookcase full of books. Actually two smaller bookcases because I inherited one. And then I had a bookcase in my room. So, lots of books.
I don't know how many books I have now. I guess that means my imaginary future children will be the smartest kids in the world. They will rule over you all. Muhahahahaha.
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I think so...and having access to a library really makes a difference too IMO.
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I also think that having creatives in your household makes your kids smarter as well. My wife and I are both authors (she's also an editor); we're both musicians (she plays the coronet and piano, and I play guitar and piano); and to a lesser degree, we'e both artists (she does illustrations, and I do photo manipulation.) We're both readers, and always enjoyed reading to our children. We have hundreds of books in all manner of genres. (Erika is a horror nut.)
My oldest is a computer nerd, and does 3D modelling. He has is certificate in additive manufacturing, and is working on his IT degree.
My middle child is a heck of an artist and pianist. Her debut children's book illustrations should be out for Halloween 2019.
My youngest is still too young to gauge such things, but she's already a storyteller. She'll disappear into her room, and we'll find her later surrounded by her books.
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I used to chew on the books we had around when I was a kid. Not sure it made me smarter. :shrug
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According to a study, growing up in a household with books makes you smarter:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/growing-surrounded-books-may-bolster-skills-later-life-180970523/
You mean you don't have to read the books? Just pile 'em up in a corner and it will make kids smarter?
What a clickbait title! Having books around doesn't make anyone smarter. Having parents who read and encourage children to read is an example of what 'smart' parents do. That is a determining factor of how 'smart' a child will become, not the mere presence of books.
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When I was growing up I used to rummage around in the bookshelf in our sitting-room (there was a set of Jane Austens, a set of H.G. Wells, Grimms' fairy tales, and assorted books my father had bought through a book club) and just read the ones I liked the look of. This was as well as having my own children's books in my room and going to the library. I think my parents would read to me before i could read on my own, but they really just let me graze apart from that, so even just having the books there was a big advantage. But in some ways I would say the correlation is probably the other way round - intelligent parents have books in the house, and their children in turn have a better chance of turning out intelligent too! (but some might say they probably would anyway)
Likewise, our house is filled with books and musical instruments, and my older son is a very good pianist and works in the field of high-performance computing, and the younger one is a very good writer (and film-maker - not sure where that came from!). But again I don't know which way round the correlation goes.