What impact, if any, does access to print materials have on our children’s reading? A lot, according to extensive research by RIF, Reading Is Fundamental, a non-profit children’s literacy organization based in Washington, DC. Owning and borrowing books from the library causes, “positive behavioural, educational and psychological outcomes.” In other […]
Other News
Play on Words – literacy action game
By Nancy Miller Here’s a fun activity that can take five minutes, or roll out to 10 or 15. The goal here is to have fun with words — and encourage your kid to get reading! Play on Words This activity uses three major learning styles: • visual: they see […]
Save the Words
Won’t you adopt a word? You don’t normally think of the Oxford English Dictionary people as silly, but they’ve developed a project that’s pretty goofy, and it’s something you can do with your kid to get her thinking about language. They’ve rounded up hundreds of words that don’t get used […]
NYTimes 10 best picture books
In time for holiday gift buying, three editors at the New York Times have published their choices for the “top 10” picture books of 2010. I’m not sure I’m completely with them on this list. I mean, “top 10”? Out of everything, these are the ones? No Jeremy Tankard? So… as with any suggestions, […]
WORDS, an image-and-word poem
WORDS is a brilliant short (1:54) film that blends images to create a flowing “word poem” that is lovely, fun and thought-provoking. It starts out with “play,” which leads to “blow” and then “break” and “split” and then “run.” The images examine all aspects of the words. For instance, “run” is a person running, and […]
How to build reading success
Could this be Snappy the mouse? Well, no, I made him up. But if there was a mouse named Snappy, this would be him. In a bi-plane. Image: by Dvortygirl. Here’s a great way to help your child succeed at reading and at the same time develop a love of books… […]
Parents can teach media literacy
The North American House Hippo exists… right? Move media literacy up on your curriculum. The world for kids today is increasingly packed with messages from the media that are contradictory, confusing and overwhelming. (By media, I mean primarily advertisers, news organizations and the Internet.) Media literacy—being able to make sense of […]
Superhero School
Kids love superheroes. But… …superheroes are usually found in comics. And parents want kids to read books. Plus, superhero comics are often too violent for younger children. Solution: books with superheroes. Superhero School, by Aaron Reynolds, is just such a book, and it’s terrific. Protagonist Leonard is a kid with super-strength […]
Promote literacy: four important activities
There’s a fourth promoter of literacy. You know that I’m always going on about the three most important things you can do to turn your kid into a great reader: 1) Read to her every day. 2) Have lots of books scattered throughout your house. 3) Let her see you […]
Winner of PictureIt Contest
Thank you to everyone who entered our contest for free PictureIt books. We have a winner! We put all of the names in a (virtual) hat and randomly chose a winner. Congratulations to Maria Butcher, who should be receiving the books right… about… now. Maria mentioned in her comment that […]
