Snow Day Reading - Rich Dad, Poor Dad & "The Road Not Taken"

My 5^th grader walked into the room with a copy of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad * and asked if it would help her become rich. I encouraged her to read the first chapter and to persevere if it got boring. When she started to complain, I urged her to read the tough parts aloud.

I’m proud to say that she made it through the first chapter. I had promised her a “quiz,” so I asked her a few questions to see if she actually understood:

• ·         Why is the book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad?
• ·         What were the differences in each dad’s thoughts about money?
• ·         What did Kiyosaki say was more powerful than money?

Being the NerdyTeacherMom that I am, I felt a rush when I saw that Kiyosaki had included the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost at the end of the chapter. I know, I know … my English teacher colleagues tell me that the poem is so overused that they’re nearly sickened by it. But perhaps it’s the nostalgic part of me that loves the poem. I’d memorized it in 7^th grade, the same year my mom and I would read literature together, when works by Edgar Allan Poe’s and other had kicked my butt. She’d even read aloud to me. And even though I was in middle school, I secretly enjoyed every moment. When the opportunity presented itself today, I seized the moment, hoping to make a few memories for my own daughter.

My little one didn’t really get the poem at first, but she was patient enough to go through it line by line with me until she did. Then, I re-read it aloud with inflection and feeling. When I opened my eyes (okay, I still remember the last few lines) and realized she was still in the room, I figured I’d take things a bit further.

“Can you think of a time when you took the road less traveled by?” I asked.

“Can you give me an example?” she countered.

“Like a time when you may have done something that might not have seemed cool.”

“Oh.  Yeah. Like in the cafeteria one day,” she said.

She went on to explain how one day at lunch in the cafeteria, despite her friends’ inviting her to their table, she went over and sat with a girl who was alone and had few friends.  We talked about how that action was taking the road less traveled and how it could have made all the difference.

She’d gotten it. And I was thrilled. Will she read the rest of Kiyosaki’s book? I don’t know.  But I’ll make sure we check out a few children’s financial literacy books from the library. 

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