Terrific resource for summertime reading
June 7, 2011
Websites offering summertime book recommendations can be overwhelming.
One of my favorite online resource for book recommendations is
http://www.neh.gov/projects/summertime-kto3.html Their recommendations are refreshingly on target for age appropriate titles.
In choosing books children will enjoy, parents should pay attention not just to the reading level but also to the emotional readiness a child brings to the story.
Some of my favorite evergreen titles:
Picture books ….& NO one ever outgrows the love of a great picture book:
Amos & Boris by William Steig
Henrietta and the Golden Egg by Hanna Johansen
Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino
Way to Start a Day by Byrd Baylor
Books for children in grades 2-5
Balto and the Great Race by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Jake Drake Know-It-All by Andrew Clements
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Books for Children in Grades 4-6+
The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber|
Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien
Make the most of summertime reading—strategies to avoid the summer slide.
June 3, 2011
We know from extensive research that without continued reading in the summer, students fall back in their reading achievement. The good news is that the latest research shows students who read at least 4 books over the summer maintain or even increase their skills. Reading is a skill that continues to improve through practice. The […]
Pre-school age children do not need tutors to get them ready to enter Kindergarten.
May 20, 2011
A recent article flagged a growing trend to push expensive tutoring programs aimed at the preschool set. I suggest parents relax and avoid anxiety producing pre-school tutoring programs and their promises of making sure children are ready for school. Reading to children and talking with them about the story are the early literacy skills they […]
Some poems are meant to be shared, loved and remembered.
May 17, 2011
Eloise Greenfield was born May 17 1929 in Parmele, North Carolina at the beginning of the Depression. Early on her family moved to Washington, D.C. where she still lives today. Here is one of my favorite poems, from her collection, Honey I Love, an ALA Notable Children’s Book. Enjoy discovering on your own other of […]
“Oh my goodness, I was as giddy as a pig in the sunshine.” Patrick Lewis, upon hearing the news of being named Children’s Poet Laureate.
May 13, 2011
Our new Children’s Poet Laureate, Patrick Lewis said “ A lifelong love for poetry is most likely to result if cultivated early in childhood and reinforced thereafter” Patrick Lewis has certainly done his part and then some in cultivating a love of poetry for both adults and children. He says “poetry can transport children when […]
