The U.S. tradition of long summer school breaks hails from times when children lived on family farms and needed to be available during the growing season to help tend them. While beneficial for farming, long breaks from structured learning can take its toll on academic progress. The sometimes negative impact of up to 12 weeks away […]
Are your kids home for spring break or an extended break due to COVID-19? Are you working from home or perhaps not working, but quarantining at home? If you’re finding yourself with a lot of time in close quarters with your kids, you’re not alone. Experts recommend that to keep everybody from getting antsy and feeling […]
Once again, we are past the big commercial holidays in the U.S. and heading toward more relaxed ones that offer us less glaring contrasts between the lives of children from homes with comfortable incomes and those who are living closer to or below the edge of poverty level. Yet all year long, it’s critical to remember that […]
Carrying home from the library a tote full of books for children is a singularly powerful demonstration for small ones how this reading thing is really important. It also can be just another pile of unrelated books about random topics for bedtime wind-down. Given the vast range of book topics for small children that invite […]
Most people have some personal treasures from the past. Perhaps a piece of jewelry from a grandparent, a stuffed animal or love letters. At this time of year, I think about my ancient baseball glove which I’ve had since I was a boy with dreams of making the big league. But what about books? Ask anybody—no, ask any […]
Reading for me is like hanging round the dessert table at a big buffet. Searching, sampling, selecting, and of course, periodically gorging to satisfy my powerful sweet tooth. Similarly, my book and reading choices are often guided by self-questions like: Where to begin? When I have I read enough? Am I ready to walk away […]
I am currently involved with a family literacy program.* It meets for six weeks, during which time families and their grade-school children come to a nearby school’s well-stocked library where we spend two hours together eating healthy food, reading good books and discussing how those books pertain to our very own lives. There is no “teaching” […]
Sports enthusiasts figure out how to enjoy their beloved pastime with pals—beyond being spectators of sporting events. Pickup games of all types are arranged, with excited players arriving early and then playing as long as the sun is up or the gym is open. They get better and better because by playing hard with their friends and […]
This week I happened upon a terrific article in The New York Times about summer reading. It is about rewarding kids for reading. The article’s headline (shown here) caught my attention because my experience is also that rewards for reading rarely have positive outcomes. The article made me reflect upon the important difference between children who can read and child avid readers. As most healthy library systems do, in my town, Louisville, Kentucky’s fabulous library has a “summer reading” program. It serves as a lure to get […]
When the kids graduate high school or just leave formal schooling, what is the most important resource that they will leverage to continue learning about…well, anything? Beyond their peers who also are searching for answers, what is the first go-to resource for young adults to begin the lifelong journey of shaping their very own, wonderful and […]
