Common Myths about Reading

MYTH (not true)

REALITY (true)

You should be able to read something only once to understand it.

There is no guarantee anyone will understand what they read the first time around. All good readers have to re-read in order to understand what they read.

Some people just are not good at reading.

Reading skills can be improved with practice and some work.

Only people who read fast make good grades.

Good readers know to adjust the speed of their reading to fit the level of difficulty of what they are reading.

You don’t have to pay attention to all those charts, graphs, and pictures.

Charts, graphs, and pictures are called graphic aids. They break down the reading into important details and help you understand what you are reading.

You should start at the beginning and read all the way to the end without stopping.

Good readers find ways to engage with the reading. They break it down into smaller chunks; they connect what they are reading to their own lives and the world around them; they ask questions and make predictions as they read. Good readers go back and re-read when they find they are not understanding.

You should never take notes or make marks on the page as you read.

Underlining, highlighting, and annotating (writing in the margins) are all ways that good readers break the reading down into its important ideas. This helps them better remember and understand what they are reading.

Employers don’t care how well you can read.

Most employers recognize that reading well is an important skill needed to complete a job well.

About Karen Yvonne Hamilton

Karen Yvonne Hamilton grew up hearing stories from her father and uncles about their lives growing up on Lostmans River. As a child, she spent almost every summer in the Florida Keys, especially Key West, where her parents would show her places in the Keys where they, their parents, and grandparents lived, worked, and played. Those summers instilled in her a great passion for the history of Florida and an intense desire to learn more about her family history and South Florida. The first book that she read about Florida history was Man in the Everglades by Charlton Tebeau. In that book she found her ancestors and was hooked. She began researching in 1985 and, over the years, amassed volumes of records on the Hamilton family. Peter Matthiessen's book, Killing Mr. Watson, where she found the Hamilton family fictionalized, spurred her on to tell the real story of her family. Karen has spent the past 30 years researching her family history and life in the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas. She is the author of Lostmans Heritage: Pioneers in the Florida Everglades, which was a silver medal winner in the Florida Author's and Publishers Presidential Awards in 2021. Her educational background includes a BA in English and she has studied with some of the top universities in the MFA in Creative Writing programs. She has published essays with Heritage Press, Florida Living, and the St. Pauls Review, and was a finalist in the 2017 New Letters Award in Creative Nonfiction. Karen works as an editor, helping other writers fine-hone their books for publication and as a consultant, helping families gather their stories through interviews and genealogical research. You can contact Karen at kyvonnehamilton@gmail.com

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