In many countries around the globe, it’s the gift giving time of year when our attentions drift toward how we can delight our loved ones with a thoughtful gift. I know this will come as a surprise, but my favorite gifts are books because they are a gift you can open again and again. Books also make […]
One recent morning my wife and I drove to an appointment in Eminence, Ky., just outside of Louisville. It was a gorgeous start to a new day with the east ablaze with “sky blue pink” (as my wife calls it) behind a single bank of fluffy clouds. As we wound through the countryside we passed a […]
Do you know a hoarder? There was a television series sometime back called “Hoarders: Buried Alive” that explored the people who can’t bring themselves to give or throw unneeded things away. We have a dear friend that is a hoarder. Walt is a person who buys and sells things at flea markets around town. However, […]
Some children don’t learn to love books and reading in school. Estimates are as high as 25 percent of children grow up as non-readers. It’s not that they can’t read’ they just don’t. Superintendents might swear their youngsters have gone through “good” schools. However, if the kids from good schools don’t love books and reading, how can […]
This week the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) held their 30th annual convention here in Louisville, Ky. NCFL is an organization that focuses on multi-generational learning for promoting literacy, mathematics and much more, since it expanded its areas of service after rebranding from the original National Center for Family Literacy. NCFL has projects operating in nearly 40 states […]
Every few months it seems there is news that focuses our attention on the perennially pitiful job schools do in improving reading. The proposed solutions are predictably pitiful as well. Schools that have been doing A should check out B, and schools that have been doing B might want to try C. The options for school-wide […]
It’s summertime, okay? That means kids are as busy as ever, but mostly doing what they want to do (Playing, Exploring, Hangin’ out with their buddies, etc.). If parents give them enough slack, kids will find something fun to do. There are times of course that circumstances dictate that the youngster(s) in a family will […]
Each year* since 1997, the International Literacy Association (ILA) has conducted a survey of teachers, school and program administrators, and practicing academics and researchers to consider the values and activities that best describe literacy education’s trends and practices. The survey queried nearly 2,100 individuals from 91 countries and territories and the results are reported from open-ended responses […]
Last week, I commented upon the power of relaxed, humanities-focused* conversation around good books and the impact of that conversation on children’s developing literacy. In this case, literacy includes all modes of engagement throughout life in clear and joyful mastery of print communication. The result of coming of age in families and schools with cultures […]
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 […]
