When does a child learn to read? Kindergarten or first grade, most people believe. But research shows us something very different. Learning to read and write starts at home, beginning at birth. That’s right! The moment they come into the world we can literally hard-wire their little brains to become readers when they enter school.
This is not just pop wisdom. We have hard science to back up this claim, thanks to research supported by many education organizations, including a partnership between the American Library Association, the Association for Library Service to Children, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
It’s a sad fact that as many as 35 percent of kids today enter school without these skills. If that’s not sobering enough, consider this: there’s a 90 percent probability that a first grader who is behind his/her desired reading level, will remain behind by fourth grade. Among those fourth-graders, 75 percent will continue to have trouble with reading throughout high school. That’s a tremendous handicap to place on a young adult.
Here’s are six proven literacy skills you can teach your child. All are linked to early success with reading:
1) Narrative Skills—Tell stories together, encourage pretend play, and let your child BE a storyteller.
2) Letter Knowledge—Help your child identify the first letter in his/her name and find it in books on street signs and package labels. Knowing the sounds letters make. Recognizing letters everywhere.
3) Print Awareness—Help your child discover how to hold a book and turn the pages. Make books available for PLAY.
4) Vocabulary—Teach your child the specific names of things.
5) Print Motivation—Find books that speak to your child’s earliest interests.
6) Phonological Awareness—Being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words.
If you are interested in learning more about how to incorporate these ideas into your home or classroom, come to my free Early Literacy Seminar at 10 a.m., Saturday, November 3, Eagle Valley Clubhouse, 7780 Eagle Valley Pass, Indianapolis, IN 46214. Attend and help the children in your life become great thinkers and interpreters of our world through a love of reading and learning. Walk away with a chance to win $50 in free books for your school or home, plus free giveaways and doorprizes just for attending!
Or visit the American Library Association’s web site for free, downloadable information at: www.ala.org/ala/alsc/ECRR/ECRRHomePage.htm
Source: American Library Association, Every Child Ready to Read brochure.
October 15, 2007
September 24, 2007
Tap into your creative side!
Years ago, when I was practicing in the field of corporate communications, I joined a professional organization in hopes of ratcheting up my skills and continuing my development beyond the fundamentals I felt I had mastered. That decision proved to be one of the most pivotal choices I ever made, not only for my career, but also for my personal life. I was assigned a mentor who became a precious friend, Susan Lawson.
Since then Susan and I both left the field of corporate communication, following paths that allowed us to fulfill what I believe is our highest calling. In Susan’s case, that’s involved some advanced training preparing her to become a writing group facilitator. (Keep in mind Susan already had more than 25 years experience as a journalist, teacher and speaker. Her writing has appeared in a number of literary and regional general-interest publications.)
Even people who have no previous writing experience produce impressive work in these sessions. Susan believes that everyone has a strong, unique writer’s voice, that everyone is born with creative genius, and that writing is an art form belonging to all people. My engineer/husband who hires me to edit his writing would probably disagree with Susan on this. And I didn’t really believe it until I witnessed an adult workshop she presented for a public library where I worked.
To my amazement, attendees were writing what I consider publishable works in creative exercises that lasted no more than 15 minutes each! After each writing time, writers read their work to the group (only if they want to), and group members comment on what they like, what they found strong, what they will remember. Shy people often seemed eager to share because Susan creates such a safe environment for it. “We never criticize because, after all, works shared are brand-new, just-born writing,” Susan says. “There are plenty of places you can go where someone will tell you what they think you’re doing wrong. My approach is meant to be different.”
If you’d like to learn more about these workshops, visit Susan’s Web site at www.susanlawson.net. She’s also presenting at two fall events:
Celebrate the body in words & image
A unique day of introspection and relaxation, exploring body image through meditation, writing and collage. Participants will create a life-size “map” of their own body, write about the body from creative prompts and poetry, and incorporate what they write into their body map.
When: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: 5051 Buttonwood Crescent (NW Indianapolis)
Fee: $210, payable in advance.
The Riding Horse of Thought: Central Indiana Friends of Jung
Psychiatrist Carl Jung described language as a means of carrying the abstract liberating thought, a way to strike against what hovers below the surface of our consciousness and free it from matter––"the riding horse of thought." Susan Lawson will share writing techniques anyone can use to engage the opposites and release the transcendent function. Bring paper and pen, leave your critic at home, and prepare to have fun!
When: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, 7 -9 p.m.
Where: Unitarian-Universalist Church of Indianapolis, 615 W. 43rd St.
Fee: $8 or free to members of Central Indiana Friends of Jung.
Since then Susan and I both left the field of corporate communication, following paths that allowed us to fulfill what I believe is our highest calling. In Susan’s case, that’s involved some advanced training preparing her to become a writing group facilitator. (Keep in mind Susan already had more than 25 years experience as a journalist, teacher and speaker. Her writing has appeared in a number of literary and regional general-interest publications.)
Even people who have no previous writing experience produce impressive work in these sessions. Susan believes that everyone has a strong, unique writer’s voice, that everyone is born with creative genius, and that writing is an art form belonging to all people. My engineer/husband who hires me to edit his writing would probably disagree with Susan on this. And I didn’t really believe it until I witnessed an adult workshop she presented for a public library where I worked.
To my amazement, attendees were writing what I consider publishable works in creative exercises that lasted no more than 15 minutes each! After each writing time, writers read their work to the group (only if they want to), and group members comment on what they like, what they found strong, what they will remember. Shy people often seemed eager to share because Susan creates such a safe environment for it. “We never criticize because, after all, works shared are brand-new, just-born writing,” Susan says. “There are plenty of places you can go where someone will tell you what they think you’re doing wrong. My approach is meant to be different.”
If you’d like to learn more about these workshops, visit Susan’s Web site at www.susanlawson.net. She’s also presenting at two fall events:
Celebrate the body in words & image
A unique day of introspection and relaxation, exploring body image through meditation, writing and collage. Participants will create a life-size “map” of their own body, write about the body from creative prompts and poetry, and incorporate what they write into their body map.
When: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: 5051 Buttonwood Crescent (NW Indianapolis)
Fee: $210, payable in advance.
The Riding Horse of Thought: Central Indiana Friends of Jung
Psychiatrist Carl Jung described language as a means of carrying the abstract liberating thought, a way to strike against what hovers below the surface of our consciousness and free it from matter––"the riding horse of thought." Susan Lawson will share writing techniques anyone can use to engage the opposites and release the transcendent function. Bring paper and pen, leave your critic at home, and prepare to have fun!
When: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, 7 -9 p.m.
Where: Unitarian-Universalist Church of Indianapolis, 615 W. 43rd St.
Fee: $8 or free to members of Central Indiana Friends of Jung.
June 30, 2007
Every time I attend an ALA conference, there's always at least one "blow my wig off" experience--one that makes me think, "Girl, you've got to overcome your introverted ways and get OUT there more, because there's LOTS going on that you don't have a clue about. If you're of the same ilk--an introvert who carefully manages stimulation from the outside world because you are so easily overwhelmed--you understand what I'm talking about.
Here's the session that rearranged a few molecules for me in 2007: Reader's Advisory for Exploding Genres. The speakers were David Wright, a librarian for the Seattle Public Library; Kelly Link and Zane––both authors and owners of their own small publishing companies. This dynamic trio discussed a whole category of fiction I hadn't previously known about, a category so broad, offbeat, and edgy that it defies categorization. For people who seem born to categorize (read: librarians) this is at once scary and thrilling: scary because some of us in midlife don't even know how to FIND this fiction; thrilling because this is what young adults are interested in reading. Don't look for these reviews in mainstream publications like Booklist, Library Journal, or the New York Times because you won't find them there. To locate what attracts Generation Y readers, explore the flourishing online literary culture, nourished and revealed in part by music and alternative media. Don't worry--you don't have to LOVE this stuff once you find it. But if you're a librarian (and maybe if you're a writer, too), you certainly need to KNOW about it! A few sources I gleaned from the session were:
The Believer, a free magazine that features essays, book reviews, interviews.
http://www.believermag.com/
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, a quarterly journal that reports on groundbreaking fiction.
http://store.mcsweeneys.net/
The editor of McSweeney's, Dave Eggers, also publishes The Best American Nonrequired Reading, an annual which highlights the realm of America's best new writers. Another similar publication is Best New American Voices, edited by Jane Smiley.
Here's the session that rearranged a few molecules for me in 2007: Reader's Advisory for Exploding Genres. The speakers were David Wright, a librarian for the Seattle Public Library; Kelly Link and Zane––both authors and owners of their own small publishing companies. This dynamic trio discussed a whole category of fiction I hadn't previously known about, a category so broad, offbeat, and edgy that it defies categorization. For people who seem born to categorize (read: librarians) this is at once scary and thrilling: scary because some of us in midlife don't even know how to FIND this fiction; thrilling because this is what young adults are interested in reading. Don't look for these reviews in mainstream publications like Booklist, Library Journal, or the New York Times because you won't find them there. To locate what attracts Generation Y readers, explore the flourishing online literary culture, nourished and revealed in part by music and alternative media. Don't worry--you don't have to LOVE this stuff once you find it. But if you're a librarian (and maybe if you're a writer, too), you certainly need to KNOW about it! A few sources I gleaned from the session were:
The Believer, a free magazine that features essays, book reviews, interviews.
http://www.believermag.com/
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, a quarterly journal that reports on groundbreaking fiction.
http://store.mcsweeneys.net/
The editor of McSweeney's, Dave Eggers, also publishes The Best American Nonrequired Reading, an annual which highlights the realm of America's best new writers. Another similar publication is Best New American Voices, edited by Jane Smiley.
June 26, 2007
The Author Who Burglarized My Heart
I attended this year's ALA conference in Washington D.C. last week with only one thing in mind: inspiration. From start to finish, that's exactly what I got, partly because I was willing to buck up for the paid events that allow you to listen to and keep a little company with the best writers of our day. The next time you find yourself coughing over the expense of an event like the $45 Gala Author Tea, presented by Friends of Libraries USA, I hope this story will help you decide to forgo a few lattes in exchange for a more thrilling and lasting form of stimulation.
The line-up for this event included Joyce Carol Oates, Eileen Goudge, Frank Delaney, Susan Vreeland, and Markus Zusak, appearing in that order. For nearly two hours, we were regaled, enchanted, and entertained in delicious variations. A wispy, ethereal figure, Joyce Carol Oates explained how often her work is criticized for dwelling on violence, a misunderstanding of her intention to show how people live through it without becoming victims. Her latest book, The Gravedigger's Daughter, is based on the imagined life of Oates' real-life grandmother.
Eileen Goudge provided a stark picture of her beginnings as a writer, a single mother living on welfare who could hardly pay her bills, much less afford to frame the first check she received for a published work. She now receives six figure advances for novels such as her latest, Woman in Red.
"My brother used to say to me, 'We can only take you anywhere twice--the second time to apologize,' " said Frank Delaney, who suggests his latest book, Tipperary, will be appropriate for a girl of 10 or a woman of 19. Delaney said he uses story as a means of sharing intimacy, smuggling whatever ideas he can from life.
Susan Vreeland described writing as a creative endeavor that kept her alive through a lengthy battle with lymphoma when she was often housebound. While she was ill, Vreeland walked to her neighborhood public library to collect research materials, despite doctor's orders not to go out. "You just don't know how important your work is," Vreeland said, crediting librarians for sustaining her during a difficult time. Vreeland's latest book lifts characters from a Renoir painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party, as the inspiration for her latest novel by the same name.
By the time the final author reached the podium, I was so blown away that I must admit to feeling a little sorry for the 32-year-old Australian who would close the afternoon event. Even Delaney, a former judge of the Man Booker Prize with a long, prestigious career in broadcasting, conceded that sharing the stage with Joyce Carol Oates was among the most thrilling experiences of his life. How could Zusak top the likes of these authors?
I needn't have given it a thought. Markus Zusak stole the stage. Zusak's publisher has taken him to task for being so self-deprecating and uncommunicative about his work at promotional events. After regaling us with hysterical stories about family, Zusak delivered a modest and heartfelt summary of the nature of his latest novel, The Book Thief. "We Australians aren't very good about talking about our work," he said. "I just wanted to write a book that might become someone's favorite." I knew that Zusak had done that, but not because I had read the book. Like a groupie, I rushed the stage afterwards to tell him how I knew. I had no other motive. Promotional copies of his book had been mysteriously lost (or stolen) before the event, so there was no chance to have a book signed by Kusak. We both knew that.
"I just have to tell you one thing," I said. "I haven't read your book yet, but it's at the very top of my must-read list and I think you may be too modest. A good friend of mine from a book discussion group is a retired English teacher in her 80s. Her sight is failing, but she still loves to read and her appetite for books is enormous. The day after she finished, The Book Thief, she told me she had just completed one the best books she'd ever read. If she says it's really good and one of her favorites, I think you've really accomplished something big."
He grinned at me and looked down at the reading copy in front of him, brought in case someone asked him to read aloud. "What is your friend's name?" he asked. "I'll sign this one for her." This is what he wrote: "Dee, *Here is a small fact: you can thank Crystal for this!* Here's to life, death, love, and all the colours in between." I slipped out of the room quietly and returned the book to my hotel room, hoping no one would notice the treasure I carried.
The line-up for this event included Joyce Carol Oates, Eileen Goudge, Frank Delaney, Susan Vreeland, and Markus Zusak, appearing in that order. For nearly two hours, we were regaled, enchanted, and entertained in delicious variations. A wispy, ethereal figure, Joyce Carol Oates explained how often her work is criticized for dwelling on violence, a misunderstanding of her intention to show how people live through it without becoming victims. Her latest book, The Gravedigger's Daughter, is based on the imagined life of Oates' real-life grandmother.
Eileen Goudge provided a stark picture of her beginnings as a writer, a single mother living on welfare who could hardly pay her bills, much less afford to frame the first check she received for a published work. She now receives six figure advances for novels such as her latest, Woman in Red.
"My brother used to say to me, 'We can only take you anywhere twice--the second time to apologize,' " said Frank Delaney, who suggests his latest book, Tipperary, will be appropriate for a girl of 10 or a woman of 19. Delaney said he uses story as a means of sharing intimacy, smuggling whatever ideas he can from life.
Susan Vreeland described writing as a creative endeavor that kept her alive through a lengthy battle with lymphoma when she was often housebound. While she was ill, Vreeland walked to her neighborhood public library to collect research materials, despite doctor's orders not to go out. "You just don't know how important your work is," Vreeland said, crediting librarians for sustaining her during a difficult time. Vreeland's latest book lifts characters from a Renoir painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party, as the inspiration for her latest novel by the same name.
By the time the final author reached the podium, I was so blown away that I must admit to feeling a little sorry for the 32-year-old Australian who would close the afternoon event. Even Delaney, a former judge of the Man Booker Prize with a long, prestigious career in broadcasting, conceded that sharing the stage with Joyce Carol Oates was among the most thrilling experiences of his life. How could Zusak top the likes of these authors?
I needn't have given it a thought. Markus Zusak stole the stage. Zusak's publisher has taken him to task for being so self-deprecating and uncommunicative about his work at promotional events. After regaling us with hysterical stories about family, Zusak delivered a modest and heartfelt summary of the nature of his latest novel, The Book Thief. "We Australians aren't very good about talking about our work," he said. "I just wanted to write a book that might become someone's favorite." I knew that Zusak had done that, but not because I had read the book. Like a groupie, I rushed the stage afterwards to tell him how I knew. I had no other motive. Promotional copies of his book had been mysteriously lost (or stolen) before the event, so there was no chance to have a book signed by Kusak. We both knew that.
"I just have to tell you one thing," I said. "I haven't read your book yet, but it's at the very top of my must-read list and I think you may be too modest. A good friend of mine from a book discussion group is a retired English teacher in her 80s. Her sight is failing, but she still loves to read and her appetite for books is enormous. The day after she finished, The Book Thief, she told me she had just completed one the best books she'd ever read. If she says it's really good and one of her favorites, I think you've really accomplished something big."
He grinned at me and looked down at the reading copy in front of him, brought in case someone asked him to read aloud. "What is your friend's name?" he asked. "I'll sign this one for her." This is what he wrote: "Dee, *Here is a small fact: you can thank Crystal for this!* Here's to life, death, love, and all the colours in between." I slipped out of the room quietly and returned the book to my hotel room, hoping no one would notice the treasure I carried.
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