Students Encouraged to Use Their Finger
Connecticut (October 2008) When students are young, they are told NOT to use their hands to read with. An interesting point is that when speed reading expert Abby Marks Beale did research for her latest book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading, she found that over 30 previously-published speed reading books advocate the use of a finger, hand or card to read with!
So what’s the deal with using your fingers to read with? Beale says that “because the eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, hand or card on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will keep naturally keep their place, be more focused and read faster. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience.”
Your Eyes Follow Movement
Beale says there are effective and ineffective ways to use your hands or a card to read with.
The most effective ways allow the eyes to do the work while the fingers, hand or card lead the eyes down the page. For example, if you place the index finger of one hand at the beginning of a line and then place your other index finger at the end of that same line, you can pull both fingers down the margins while your eyes move between the fingertips. This positioning and movement down the page also forces the reader to be seated in an upright position with the reading material on a desk or table, reducing the tendency to excessively day-dream.
In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading, Beale includes photos and descriptions of 13 finger, hand and card reading methods. This gives readers many possible methods to choose from. “These are tools to help read faster. They are to be used when speed is needed, not all the time, though” Abby added “ they DO help get through a lot of material in a short period of time.”
Many of the finger and card methods can also be used on a computer screen. Pam Mullan, co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading, provides an entire chapter about how to read better and faster on a computer screen which includes adapting the finger and card methods to screen.
Practice Makes It Easier
People who want to learn how to use their hands or a card to read with are understandably uncomfortable, at first. “It is a different way to approach material and the eyes and brain need a little practice over a short period of time to get used it” says Beale.
Over 20 years ago, Beale began her journey into the field of adult learning and speed reading. “I personally used to hate to read. But after I gained confidence in my own reading abilities using some of the hand and card methods (and a few other speed reading strategies), I became an avid reader and life-long learner. My aim is to educate readers, especially students and business people, on how more frequent and efficient reading can change their lives,” said Beale.
Studies have proven over and over again that reading is an essential skill for school and life. However, the National Endowment for the Arts reported that just one in four high school seniors don’t read at all unless it is for an assignment. And a recent Harris Interactive poll finds that one in five Americans purchased NO books last year.
According to the National Literacy Trust, researchers from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York think that 14-year-olds who watched more than three hours of TV a day found other activities, such as reading and homework boring and challenging. In 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied about half of leisure time, “Wouldn’t it be great if Americans would forego just a little TV time for some reading? A half an hour a day would make a big difference in what we collectively know,” suggest Beale.
“It’s time to encourage students to use their finger…that is, use their finger for reading!”
About Abby Marks Beale
Abby Marks Beale is the lead author of the recently released “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading” along with college reading professor Pam Mullan. Beale has also written “10 Days to Faster Reading” and Success Skills: Strategies for Study and Lifelong Learning 3e”. Beale is the content editor for “Read More, Faster…On-Screen” written by Pam Mullan. She is currently creating an online course called “Rev It Up Reading: Getting Up to Speed With What You Read” due out the end of October. She is the founder of The Corporate Educator and specializes in helping busy people work smarter, faster and just plain better. Since 1988, Beale has developed well-received, content-rich training and speaking programs that reduce workplace stress through the knowledge of skills.
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For a book signing or interview with Abby Marks Beale, please contact:
Cherielee Passalaqua, Julie Braun Design, LLC; 845.728.6617; cherielee.juliebraundesign@gmail.com
Julie Braun, Julie Braun Design, LLC; 203.887.1824; Julie.braun.design@gmail.com
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