The ultimate goal of literacy education is developing children’s love of books and reading. That’s because such love will manifest in patterns of lifelong learning via daily joyful reading of self-selected books and other media. But it’s not just having the books and media that will make a child a lifelong reader and learner. It’s […]
Public schools in the U.S. on a traditional schedule are closing for the summer, with buses making their final run full of chattering children, excited to be finished with the school game for a few months. But unfortunately, this also is often the first day of the Summer Slide, the path taken by way too […]
We are happily in the midst of the Week of the Young Child™, established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC invited us to join them April 8–12, 2019 for their yearly celebration of five fun-filled, themed days for families and educators of the youngest learners. This event is an annual celebration to spotlight early […]
Instead of using “reading” books, the recommendation is to fill classrooms with books rich in age-appropriate subject matter (e.g., science, mathematics, the social studies and humanities, the arts, etc.). The argument is that using books of random content designed for merely improving students’ reading test levels until 3rd grade haven’t worked for schools or children. The […]
The month of December is a terrific time to review “bests” and “worsts.” It takes time and some discipline to systematically and thoughtfully step back from the business of the holidays and remember what in life is worth holding onto or letting go of. It is a nice way to bring closure to another year. As I’ve […]
I’m currently working with the Kentucky Humanities Prime Time Project in a school in my home town. The fabulous librarian coordinates this project which has invited 40 of the school’s Hispanic families (parents AND kids) to enjoy a light meal, some picture-book read-aloud time and participate in demonstrations of humanities-based conversations about the books once a week. Humanities conversations focus […]
It seems that these days every news or scholarly article about literacy development contains the word “skills.” Reading and writing skills, to be exact. We want to teach children to read and write, but instead we teach reading and writing SKILLS. What’s up with that? I believe it’s because skills are easier to measure than lifelong learning habits. Skills get attention because […]
One of the joys of parenting is reading with our kids, beginning when they are infants. There is nothing like snuggling up with a pile of simple books with our little ones on our laps. Soon, we invite toddlers to select the books. Later, we invite them to read along. But unfortunately, not all parents […]
That children independently choose to read every day is the only sure-fire indication that their literacy is growing. Only personal choice to pick up books and spend time enjoying their contents assures that instruction is working. In the absence of that, we’re probably squandering our time and resources. The lack of this urge to engage with books at any […]
*Click on images to see larger version. Forty-some years ago I joined the International Reading Association (IRA), a huge collection of reading educators from all over the world. I also joined the National Reading Conference (NRC), which was a rather small organization of reading researchers. Members of these organizations met to share what they’ve been up […]
