Skim and Scan

"Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets."

~ Madame Jeanne Guyon ~

I love to read. I would rather read a good book than watch a movie, because I can savor the words, read them over, decide what the characters look like, give their words the tone and inflection I want, and make the story my own. My current favorite author is Francine Rivers. I have been reading her books for months and have come close to reading everything she has on the market, so I find myself slowing down and savoring every word. I always have a grieving period after a good book; I reflect on the story, I miss the characters, then I begin the waiting period before I can start another book.

In contrast, if I am reading a book that is not as well written, or that I have to read something that I am not particularly interested in, I tend to skim, looking for the good parts. Skimming is not actually reading, it is more like searching for specific words or thoughts. A good skimmer can find information quickly, then slow down and dig deep into the information.

The problem is that skimming is a skill. Before I became a high school principal, I worked with students with learning differences. My favorite students to work with were students with ADD. One of the struggles that they tend to have is the inability to skim. That presents unique problems. When assigned a chapter to read with questions at the end to answer, few high school students understand the importance of actually reading the chapter. Most will skim the chapter, looking for key words and phrases that will help to answer the assigned questions. However, most students with ADD are terrible skimmers. To complicate matters, they also struggle to focus when reading material that is of little interest to them, in spite of their reading ability. Nevertheless, strong student or weak, skimming is not reading for understanding; it is searching.

Skimming is like scanning. Ever enter the church auditorium, looking for your husband? You scan the faces until you find the familiar one, but if questioned, will probably not be able to recall many of the faces you scanned. However, if you pick a row and study it, you can look at the faces over and over until you commit them to memory.

I scan the Bible when looking for a particular word, phrase, or verse, but to read for understanding, I have to slow down and read each word. I will then read a concordance on that scripture to understand the context and find associated scriptures. I keep a highlighter and a pen in my Bible to highlight scriptures and write in the margins. I also write on the blank pages provided at the back, having learned to do that in college with textbooks that I purchased; it is an important study tool for me. God‘s word is amazing. It is timeless, the only book I know that you can read over and over and learn something new every time.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light for my path.”

Psalm 119:105