Certain family cultures make the likelihood of success in school and beyond more accessible than others. The culture of which I speak is not about ethnicity, parental education, income or language, though. It’s about the prevalence and prominence of book reading in the families, regardless of any other cultural group to which they might belong. […]
This week the world celebrates International Mother Tongue Day. February 21st is the date designated in 1999 by the United Nations to recognize the primacy of the home language in everyone’s culture. That language in turn is the most comprehensive path to the full understanding of a people and their values. The commitment of this […]
Adults trained and hired to lead children into mastery of knowledge and skills that the larger community feel are important take the business of schooling very seriously. Chief among the goals we have for students inarguably is Teaching Children to Read. Strangely enough, this most critical phrase is used with several meanings. Teaching Children to Read could mean being […]
Children learning to read books respond well to adult guidance, patience and understanding. In return, adults typically expect children to daily hard work on learning to read. However, daily willingness put forth by kids toward learning to read is a bigger and wider determiner of success than can be matched by professionals and well-meaning families. The roles […]
By Mike McGuffee My mother always had a garden. To be precise, she had lots of gardens. Our yard was dotted with plants that were given the prospect of a good life from my mother’s hands. Through the backyard of my childhood, I grew alongside Black Diamond Watermelons and Paper Shell Pecan Trees. I believe […]
To become strong lifelong readers, kids need to read every day. If kids aren’t reading daily, there are three simple things to fix that: Books. Opportunities. Models. Children need books that touch their hearts, because kids eagerly read books they love, with characters or content they can personally relate to. That might sound simple, but […]
There’s a new book out for mathematics teachers called What’s Right About Wrong Answers. Being a literacy person, and without yet reading this book (I know!), I immediately loved that title. The complementary roles of cautious accuracy and freewheeling exploration should be bound up in everything adults work to help children learn. That is certainly the […]
Have you ever tried to teach someone to do something that you yourself didn’t like to do? It’s the very hardest teaching because the primary thing that needs to be developed within every learner is a burning desire to learn whatever it is. The easiest teaching in the world is to help children learn something they are […]
Those who love to make music, who take joy from an instrument, never have to be told to go practice. True musicians will play even when their families don’t want them to. They do it because they love it. I’m not speaking about the child who can play because he was forced to take lessons, […]
Twenty years ago this week the first Harry Potter book was published. That was a watershed in children’s book publishing in my lifetime, creating a starburst of delight. At the time I had only heard murmurings on local news about this new character. However, the gravity of the impact that Harry, along with Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, […]
