Archive for the 'Baby and Toddler' Category
Monday, October 31st, 2011
When I talk about reading with my kids with other parents—-that is, either me or my husband sitting down with them to read aloud or share the reading duties—-I hear these responses like these: “I wish I could find the time to do that,” or “we’re just too busy to read.” I understand completely. Between [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Literacy Matters, Preschool-Kindergarten | No Comments »
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
My first grade teacher, Miss Mary Bodi, spent a lot of time bringing out the writer in her students. Regularly throughout the year, she asked us to choose a picture from a file. In it were magazine advertisements, clipped comics, and other images she’d collected. One-by-one, were called to sit next to her at a [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Literacy Matters, Preschool-Kindergarten, Summer Enrichment, Writing Activities, Writing Sparks | No Comments »
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Good Dog Carl Toddlers–and their reading partners– love Carl, the even-keeled Rotweiler that is charged with minding the baby in several of these beautifully illustrated picture books, including Carl’s Afternoon in the Park, and our family favorite, Good Dog, Carl. The books have very few words, but the story is brilliantly told through the paintings of Alexandra Day, who incidentally owns [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Book Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, June 1st, 2009
No more pencils No more books No more teacher’s dirty looks So goes the chorus of Alice Cooper’s anthem, School’s Out, that gets ample airplay each June. I am A-OK with doing away with the teacher’s dirty looks, but I’m a firm believer that the books and pencils should not be discarded just because school is [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, High School, Summer Enrichment, Writing Activities | No Comments »
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
Want to see what a difference 30-minutes of reading each day can make in your child’s life? Check out the Feed Me A Story page at the America Reads website.
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Literacy Matters | No Comments »
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
Way back when I was studying Shakespeare as a sophomore in college, the rather animated professor used to act out scenes from the plays, lunging toward us in sword battles, and moving about the room reciting a character’s solilioquy. More than just bringing the text to life, his readings helped us absorb the language of [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, High School | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Most every book I have on rearing babies and toddlers includes mention of making reading part of the daily play routine. In What to Expect: The Toddler Years, there is a generous section covering reading with the pre, pre-school set, encouraging parents not to be concerned with teaching their kids to read, but with teaching [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Preschool-Kindergarten, Recommended Reads | No Comments »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Keeping books in the car is a great way to squeeze reading into the day. Kids can get a quick read in on trips to and from school, shopping trips, and other excursions. Warning: Looking down into a book for long periods of time can trigger motion sickness. If your child is prone to getting [...]
Posted in Baby and Toddler, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, High School, Recommended Reads | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
I took the two-year-old to his first Toddler Story Time at the library, just as I took his sister and brother before him. It has been a while since I had a toddler, nine years to be exact. Long enough to forget that two-year-olds don’t always sit patiently through every story, rhyme, and fingerplay. In [...]
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