Have you ever wanted anything more than the forbidden fruit? Yeah, me neither, so let’s not create an artificial lack thinking we’ll change kids’ ideas about games. This is the part of the argument where I think Mr. Spence gets off track.
How to Raise Boys Who Read from a dad of 6 boys!
Thank you to my work Dad Friend, who also has a blog called adverlicio.us, an online ad archive, for this great article from the Wall Street Journal on How to Raise Boys Who Read by Thomas Spence with a note that says “Hint: Not with Gross-Out Books and Video Game Bribes.” Spence is apparently disgusted by the pandering of publishers to reluctant boy readers with Gross-Out books and proposes a simple solution that worked for his 6 (that’s right, folks, SIX!!!!) boys: TURN OFF THE SCREENS! FILL THE HOUSE WITH GOOD BOOKS.
Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Award Acceptance Speech
I thought Neil Gaiman gave such a lovely, funny and inspiring speech. Thank you to Beth Schulman for the post. Neil Gaiman is going to be the Boston Public Library Children’s Book Fundraiser tomorrow, Sunday, Sept 26, 2010. It’s a tea party starting at 2:00. It might be too late to jump in, but you never know. You get to meet four Newbery authors and have them sign your books. I’d love to meet Neil Gaiman after reading his speech!
Website That Teaches Kids Spanish: Muy Fabuloso!
Kulcutural Kids has a Foreign Langauge and Friends website to teach children vocabulary through a themed web games for Spanish but other languages coming soon. They offered me a code to check it out and I have to say that it took me a long time to get around to it, but when I finally took a look I was really impressed.
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award 2011 (ages 7-16)
Our school librarian at our elementary school always has a shelf dedicated to these books and there is a challenge to the the 5th Graders to read the entire list. The reviews are from the Acton Memorial Library.
Invented Spelling Necessary for Learning to Read: Froshus Dobrmn Pensr
Invented spelling is the name for children’s misspellings before they know the rules adults use to spell, often before they know how to read. In some respects inventive spellers are learning to write as they learned to talk. Invented spelling is not so much an approach to writing as it is a way of removing obstacles in the path of a young writer. Children don’t automatically and spontaneously arrive at the correct spelling of a word simply because they read.
Long Division App
Be still my beating heart! My 5th Grader is learning long division and sometimes working through the problems step by step is confusing to her. So you can imagine how excited I AM with this app, that translates long division into a color coordinated step by step process and has a number key pad so that the student can input their numbers every step of the way. Then, the numbers slide from the problem, into their proper place in the problem. Very visual and memorable! And also kinda fun!