There’s an interesting post on a blog called Kidliterate – here.The author, Melissa, argues that parents shouldn’t be in a big hurry to read the Harry Potter books to their children. She says there are lots of books kids should experience first, and if they dive into Harry Potter too […]
Reading theory
Idioms are helpful
My son loves idioms. When he was in junior kindergarten, a wonderful school librarian took him under her wing to give him some learning extensions. She taught him about idioms – phrases that can’t be taken literally, like “break a leg” or “you run like a cheetah.” He had great […]
Boys don’t like school
Send the message, “I want to hear the story you want to tell.” OK, here are some final highlights from the Leonard Sax seminar: 1) Many more girls than boys graduate from university. This is true for Canada, the UK, and the US. Sax says boys have given up on […]
Boys’ and girls’ brains develop differently
Part II of our coverage of Dr. Leonard Sax’s seminar in Toronto about how boys and girls learn.It’s not that boys’ brains develop more slowly than girls’ brains, according to Leonard Sax. “It’s more nuanced than that.” Researchers have found that:* the areas of the brain involved in language and […]
Getting boys reading – start in the middle
Start from the middle.This was Leonard Sax’s counter-intuitive (and possibly brilliant) suggestion to English teachers who want boys to enjoy great literature. Boys’ and girls’ brains process information differently. Girls process emotional information throughout their cerebral cortex, where language and analysis are also processed. Boys, however, process emotional information in […]
"Reading" English
Mispronouncing uncommon words can be the mark of a reader. People who read a lot will come across uncommon words that aren’t normally used in conversation. So they won’t know their correct pronunciation—just the one that’s in their head. The other day my son said, “Tan-za-NEE-a? I thought it was […]
Get your six-year-old reading
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 […]
Goofy titles draw kids in
If you lie, your butt will grow. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but my son sure wants to read this book. We were at the library today. I was trying to get my son to check out some books. He was more interested in the computer game […]
Respecting the reading bubble
I can tell when my son is reading – and I leave him to it. There’s a certain hush that falls over the house, over his room. A certain intermittent squeak to his armchair. A kind of quiet that I can’t explain, but which I know means that he’s upstairs […]
Reading extensions work
You may be wondering why I’ve been pushing the Disney movies. It’s because extending reading beyond books — into movies, soundtracks, games and toys — gets kids reading. Of course, it all has to start and end with the book. Which is where parents come in. You make sure the […]
