OT: Speed Reader

PopinJohn · Sep 19, 2018

Something I can?t understand:
My oldest son (age 51) went back to college last year for an
advanced degree, continues to maintain a 4.0 grade point average.
He speed reads his assigned material, and there is lots of it,
Seems to grasp what is relevant, I can?t. I do well to read a couple of pages
and remember what I just read.
He has been this way since his teen age years, as have I.
Anybody have/had this experience?

rustyfarmall · Sep 19, 2018

I need to read those 2 pages about 4 times, and then I might remember part of it.

retired farmer · Sep 19, 2018

I was that way in high school. We used to have a lot of home work we had to read. I would get done with it around nine and then read a different mystery book that consisted on average of three hundred or so pages every night during the week. The last book that I read was back in 2003. Now I can't even read a short paragraph and remember what it said.

cool hand · Sep 19, 2018

I, now an octogenarian, when I was in high school, was mostly interested in tractor work--That really got my attention! O, livestock too, but clearly not much into academics. My homework was addressed after chores were done. I would read my history assignment, for example, retain most of it and get decent grades, although I was clearly not much interested. I rejected history as useless--past, and of no real value. Then I was sent to Germany courtesy of Uncle Sam's Army, and my interests changed. Now, I have a seemingly voracious appetite for WWII history. Love seeing and reviewing such programs.

Dean · Sep 19, 2018

If your son reads all of the assigned material, he is a rare one, indeed (depending a bit upon the subject matter).

With some exceptions, most folks spend time and energy trying to figure out the easiest way to graduate doing the least amount of work. Many (most?) read little or nothing.

Sadly, grade compression has become so endemic that a 4.0 is rather meaningless these days (with some exceptions. I have three and another two that are quite close.

When I took my MBA in the late 1970s-early 1980s, I was astonished to learn that many of my classmates didn't even buy the books yet graduated with 2.5+ GPAs.

Dean

Steve@Advance · Sep 19, 2018

No way I can speed read!

Reading has never been an enjoyable thing for me, not that I have trouble reading, but I need a reason to read, not just to say I read something.

I think I take it too serious. I tend to read everything like a technical manual. Afraid if I miss something, or come across a word I'm not familiar with and don't look it up, that will be the difference in success or failure.

Fordy20 · Sep 19, 2018

I took a speed reading class once. In class, we would speed read a section of the book but then we would have to tell somebody else in the class a recap of what we had just read. So even though you were reading fast you were trying to maintain something out of it. I think if you read fast then pause and recap in your own mind what you just read, you retain a lot more.

Oregon Tractor Jack · Sep 19, 2018

I was a late bloomer and went back to school when I was 36. I had to learn how to study all over again. I took a class that covered how to learn how to study. I learned to best way to remember all the reading that was required. First you read the entire book or article. The next day to go back and read the first and last paragraph of each chapter. The next day you did the first and last sentence in each paragraph. It sounds crazy but it really helped. It worked really worked for all the history classes that I had to take.

OTJ

sms · Sep 20, 2018

I found throughout high school and college the best thing I could do was attend class and pay attention. I did quite well in many easier classes that way without much studying. However my study habits had to improve in my junior and senior years of college to get my engineering degree.

K Effective · Sep 20, 2018

I have a numbers memory, i.e. I have memorized my drivers license, my wife's DL, my buddy's, all five of the family SS#s, the ten digit number on my dosimetery at work, my debit cards, etc, etc.

I can speed read, but I kinda also have some legalistic OCD type thing, where I have to force myself to scan words, because I want to read every single one, because that is what you are supposed to do. Like stopping all the way at a STOP sign- I have to.

As I get older, I like to challenge myself to continue to learn and memorize things to keep on top of my game. Reading or classroom learning is one thing, actually doing a task or working on a system is so much better for me to remember it.

However, I have never been one to remember "back in 96, we had this dry spell", or "the winter of 2005 was the worst ever", even though I experienced those things.

1948CaseVAI · Sep 20, 2018

It is a skill, and like any skill it comes easier for some than for others. I took a class in it at the University of Kansas back in the day and as long as I keep reading I can maintain it. If I read a novel the thing that slows me down the most is turning the pages quickly enough. I need to have the pages in constant motion else I am idling.

dr sportster · Sep 21, 2018

I was taught the speedreading in HS but I find better reading to slow the pace down .

OT: Speed Reader

PopinJohn

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rustyfarmall

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retired farmer

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cool hand

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Dean

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Steve@Advance

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Fordy20

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Oregon Tractor Jack

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sms

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K Effective

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1948CaseVAI

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dr sportster

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