I thought this would make a great holiday or birthday gift for boys who show an interest in graphic novels and/or comic books. It’s an especially good and sneaky way to draw in reluctant readers and get them reading, writing, and drawing. Read more…
The best way to create a caring climate is to engage children collectively in an activity that benefits another human being.
Ervin Staub, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Read more…
Thank you to everyone who sent in pictures!! This week we have photos of kids reading in unusual places, reading non-fiction, reading to siblings, reading in snugglies and the results of reading for a good cause! Read more…
So here’s my question: to be a Supermom, must you be on an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry?!! Can you be a Supermom and still track your schedule and your children’s appointments, practices, play dates, and other sundry extracurricular activities on, gasp!, paper?! Read more…
As I tighten up my blog, I am going to be posting a lot less frequently on recalls. If you rely on me to stay on top of those endless recalls, please follow me on Twitter or Facebook as I will be posting the recalls there. I have buttons on the right hand column if you just want to click one button.
Reading is essential to the intellectual growth of a child. Study upon study has linked early reading habits with admittance to college and future success, and not only that, but reading is fun. A good story transports the reader to other times and places and stimulates thought and the creation of new perspectives. But it can be hard to instill a similar love of reading in your child for various reasons. Reading is hard at first, and it requires more work than watching TV or playing video games. Plus, it does not offer the instant gratification of time in front of a screen and is not always viewed as “cool” by your child or their peers. Read more…
Not everyone believes that Kindergarten should be an academic experience and hence the spate of articles that I have posted on lately (see Has Kindergarten Changed or Are Kids Smarter? and Recess Essential to Kindergartener Development). This raging debate is never more apparent than at my own elementary school where we have 2.5 Kindergarten classrooms. ( The half you ask? We have a combined K/1st grade — a class combination born of shrinking school budgets rather than academic optimization. ) The two Kindergarten only teachers have been at the school for a long time and work beautifully together but they each represent the spectrum of Kindergarten philosophies: Kindergarten as play/learning the norms of behavior for school versus Kindergarten preparing children for academics. Read more…
In November 2010, New Hampshire children from preschoolers to third grader will be invited to vote for the winner of the 2010 Ladybug Picture Book Award. Voting materials, including a picture ballot and tally sheets will be available on this website in June. What an exciting way to teach very young children about great picture books AND that your opinion makes a difference. I wish I lived in New Hampshire so my kids could vote!!! Read more…
This is from Jill of MomsGoneGlobal.com: “I will send you a recent photo I took of my six-year-old reading Magic Treehouse: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve. He had just returned home from school wearing a cute Halloween hat which he had crafted in art class. When he saw that I had purchased the book for him, he grabbed it and dove onto the couch to devour it. He looked so cute in his hat, that I had to sneak a photo of him. To my surprise, the click of the camera did not disturb him. It must have been an excellent read because he stayed there and finished the entire book within the hour.” Read more…
I'm a co-chair of KidLitCon. It's March 22-23, 2019 (next year) in Providence, Rhode Island. Click on image for more info.
