We can also start from daily life, so that children can see how a person, or a group of people, rewrites history, which has an impact on our daily lives today. For example, from the electric lamp, we can understand Edison, and the feud and competition between him and Tesla, who advocates alternating current.
Tesla lost to Edison, but nearly a century later, many engineers believe tesla's invention was the better power solution. Today, the inventor of electric vehicle Elon Musk named the car after Tesla Tesla, paying tribute to the AC predecessor.
How were Google and Baidu born? What problems were they trying to solve?
We can also introduce moving stories in areas where children are not very good at, so as to stimulate their interest.
Children who think math is boring can read Archimedes' The Story of the Crown, and math is around, even in the bathtub. Fairy tale writer Wang Wenhua said that every time he told the children, Galileo Galileo was distracted and distracted because he was in class in the church, and his eyes stared at the chandelier above, and found that the chandelier seemed to swing exactly the same time! Thus was invented the pulse timing method. This story of inattention in class can amuse children every time and are interested in learning about the physics behind it.
The third benefit of biography is that it allows children to find themselves and relieve confusion.
There is a boy who is more introverted, does not like to play bicycles and football with other boys, but likes to read quietly alone.
Once, when he read a book about the childhood story of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln: "The Boy Who Loves to Read", he felt very much like himself, and he no longer felt strange. My daughter says she always doesn't know what she wants to do in the future because she wants to pursue so many careers, from astronaut to animal keeper to picture book painter. I found that every picture book has an introduction to the author, and if you pay a little attention, you will find that many authors are cross-disciplinary.
For example, The Tree of Love, author Shel Silverstein, is a painter, poet, playwright or country singer. So I'll tell her, it's not surprising that one person can do many different careers at the same time! Female astronaut Dr. Alan Ochoa, who became the first Latino woman to go into space, was also known as the "girl who played for the stars" for playing the silver flute while on a mission.
After choosing the right biography, how do we read it?
In addition to following it from beginning to end, I advocate "reading with questions." For example, did the character overcome an obstacle in childhood—illness or family discord? Did the character receive the award, and what qualities and achievements led to the award?
My daughter was studying cello, and just in time for the school English class to make a non-fiction book, she said she wanted to be the subject of cellist Yo-Yo Ma. I said, there are too many stories about Yo-Yo Ma, so what do we want to know? Specific questions should be asked.
She asked the question: Why has Yo-Yo Ma been able to pull so well since he was a child? I also asked a question: Why did Yo-Yo Ma take the stage to perform for the president at the age of 7 and is still a world-renowned figure in his sixties? You know, most gifted children later become ordinary passers-by.
There are no ready-made biographies of Yo-Yo Ma on the market, but we have found answers to our questions through various channels of interviews and self-statements. If you look at the life of the character with the problem, you will have your own unique discovery.
What I personally value most is how the characters in the biographical story make choices at the key points. At a particular moment, often a difficult one, what choices does this character make? What was the background at the time? Does he regret doing so? As a reader, what do you think?
Once, I read Li Qingzhao's "Summer Sentences" with my daughter: "I still think of Xiang Yu and refuse to cross Jiangdong." Xiang Yu was born into an aristocratic family, lost to Liu Bang, lost "face" and committed suicide, refusing to go back to see Jiangdong's father and elder. Is there something really higher than life?
My 7-year-old daughter at the time listened to the story and felt that it was not worth it. Life is above all else. I said she was right, but we also saw that people like Xiang Yu, because of the background of his time, made different choices. The daughter believes that as long as there is life, Xiang Yu will still have a chance. Therefore, we talked about the hook of lying down and tasting the guts, he is able to stretch and bend.
Life is a myriad of multiple choice questions, and when I see such a fork in the road, I will focus on discussing with children another possibility in life. Most biographies have stories of how these characters chose to get back on their feet in the midst of failure or difficulties. It is worth letting the child stay at the "fork in the road" of that life story and think about how he will do it.
Here, it is recommended that parents read Zweig's famous book "When the Stars Of Mankind Shine", from Voltaire to Napoleon, from the Heroes of Antarctica to the inventor of the first transatlantic telegraph, fourteen historical close-ups, which vividly show the turning points in the lives of these stars. Parents can read it to their children, or let the children in the upper grades read it independently.
Reading with questions can also dig up biographies from other knowledge.
For example, children memorize Tang poems at school. So what is the life of Li Bai and Du Fu? Li Bai and Du Fu once met and felt sorry for each other, and how many poems did they write to each other? In that era when there was no WeChat and no telephone, how did they describe friendship? How do children and their friends maintain friendships today?
Think about Du Fu's thoughts about Li Bai, we can still read and feel it after a thousand years, so when our friend's birthday, send a big toy bought from the store, or send a card written by himself, a few words from the heart, which one can be preserved longer? Of course, children can also argue that toys will bring more happiness. It doesn't matter, the intersection of Li Bai and Du Fu's lives always allows children to see another attitude and idea.
Behind almost every fictional story, there is some kind of reality. Kids who love Disney princesses might as well learn about a true modern princess: Princess Diana. The princess's life is not only beautiful clothes and gems, but also countless troubles and sorrows in the real biography of the character. The superficial scenery does not represent true happiness, but what people remember is the driving force behind her spreading love.
When parents read biographies for their children, there is another point to consider, is it necessary to conceal the flaws of the characters, or the content that does not conform to standard values?
For example, mobile phones and computers are visible to us every day, and it is natural to talk about Apple founder Steve Jobs. If adults first read the thick biography of Jobs, they will find that Jobs was not an obedient child when he was a child. What a trickster. He lit explosives under the teacher's seat and replaced all the children's bicycle codes.
In some simplified children's versions of Jobs's biographies, it may be feared that it will have a negative impact on children, avoiding such content, or understatement, focusing on how great his invention was. In fact, if you frankly tell your child about a real Jobs, especially the mischievous parts, the child's interest will be particularly great. They all find it so funny – don't worry too much, not every kid really has the ability to crack the code for all the bikes in school.
On the contrary, Jobs later met a good teacher, discovered his true interest, and let the interest become a guide. When we discuss his inventions, we can also come back to discuss, is technology for the benefit of people, or is it to hurt people to make a profit? Jobs was not a perfect man, which can also be seen in his character and experience as an adult. Real biographies are more convincing.
In fact, inventors, more or less, are people who disobey the order. How can this rebellion be used for the benefit of humanity? Every child has some small wildness in their hearts, and in the process of growing up, it is rare to protect and maintain this wildness. How to integrate with social rules? By reading real and complete biographies, children will understand that everything has a degree, and they need to make their own choices and find answers.
When we say biography, it's not just a vehicle like a book, it can also be a film, a documentary, or some other form, such as an exhibition.
If you want to talk about Michael. Jackson, who must have watched his moon walk videos, documentaries this is "just like this concert", is much more exciting than reading books.
There are too many biographies of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, but if you have the chance to go to London, not far from 10 Downing Street, don't miss the "Churchill War Room". This is Churchill's secret underground command room during World War II, and there is also an exhibition of the former prime minister's paintings, learning about his colorful life, leading soldiers to fight, writing memoirs that won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and wielding paintbrushes.
Well, we talked about the importance of reading biographies to children, how to pick them, how to read them. First of all, I hope that children can find their own life mentors in biographies.