A mom came up to me in the schoolyard this morning. She said she wanted some help getting her child reading. Her son is six years old and in grade one. He’s frustrated because he’s not picking up reading a bit faster – so he’s clearly motivated to read. I […]
Tag: research
Brain-training exercise
Brains – especially young brains – benefit from exercise. Here’s an exercise that Bernadette Tynen (the brain researcher) does with her students. She says that if you do it with your child once a week, it will help to make his thinking more flexible and creative. She gives the child […]
Reading the paper on the floor
Life imitates blog.Having recently reminded myself what boys like (in terms of their reading material), I’ve been on the lookout for something to encourage my son to read during these busy summer days. This afternoon, I found it. The Toronto Star newspaper ran a great story on what Toronto was […]
Summer reading tips
How’s your summer going? Have the kids been reading? It’s mid-summer; now’s the time to encourage them to pick up a book. You know the research – kids who don’t read during the summer experience a big slip when they get back to school in September. Let’s make sure that […]
Trampoline – for your brain
Want to create a smart reader? Get your child on a trampoline. According to brain researcher Bernadette Tynan, trampolines are so good for the brain, “even NASA astronauts use it to boost their brain power.” Trampolines improve your meta-cognative ability – your ability to “think about thinking.” That’s because on […]
Don’t tell your kid that reading is hard
Life imitates art – er, blog. My last post* cautioned parents not to tell kids that reading is hard because, “kids don’t know something is difficult until you tell them it is.” I was talking to Mary in the schoolyard today, and she told me a real-life story that illustrates […]
A brilliant TV series
Make your child brilliant. One of the inspirations for this blog was a TVO series called Make your child brilliant, which I saw last year. It’s airing again on TVO starting on Sunday, May 24, at 8 p.m. It’s a documentary featuring a woman in the UK, Bernadette Tynan, who […]
Reading gets easier
As kids learn to read it becomes, quite literally, easier for them. Younger children exert more effort and have to activate more of their brain. As children get older, and read better, they can use less effort, and less of their brain’s real estate, to understand what they’re reading. To […]
The three main factors
Your attitude shapes your kids’ attitudes. Researchers recorded years’ worth of everyday interactions across a wide range of families. They discovered three main factors that predict whether a child will be a successful reader. 1) Parents’ attitudes about readingEven in communities without bookstores or libraries, if the parents showed children […]
Another reason to read to your child
Books have their own language. You’d never say, in conversation, “once upon a time,” or “her flaxen locks.” And yet, when we read those phrases in books, not only do they seem perfectly normal, but they’re part of a fantastic language that contributes to a whole and magical childhood. Here […]
