The Pledge of Allegiance—the story behind the story.
October 11, 2010
The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited on October 12, 1892 to celebrate the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. The Pledge, by Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer is a fascinating book full of intriguing information about that time in history, which sheds light on the “back story” to how the Pledge of Allegiance came to be.
I am always interested in the “ back-story”, the story behind the story which is akin to what Graham Green described as the “sliver of ice” that resides in the heart of writers, the thing that allows them to examine events with forensic analysis. Reading should inspire inquisitiveness and the following recommendations are sure to spark both a child’s and an adult’s curiosity. These books look at history from a personal point of view by giving you the story behind the story—the who, what, why and when. These books also capture the moment in childhood when the wider awareness of the world and wonder coexist.
~ A Little History of the World, E. H. Gombrich
~ What the World Eats, Faith D”Aluisio
~ A History of Us, Joy Hakim
~ We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History, Phillip Hoose
~ The American Story, Jennifer Armstrong
California mandates children be five years old to begin school
October 10, 2010
To insure that children are prepared for school, California’s Governor signed a bill requiring children be 5 years of age to start kindergarten. Working with teachers all over the country I hear complaints how students are not ready for school. School readiness is not simply accomplished by making sure children are 5 years old when […]
Boys and Reading—a p.s.
October 8, 2010
I just wrote a letter to The Wall Street Journal about Boys and Reading http://www.dianefrankenstein.com/diane-in-the-news/ and a longer piece on boys and reading (10.8.2010) http://www.dianefrankenstein.com/musings/ On the heels of thinking about boys and reading a few ideas began to percolate while reading a review of Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. Where do […]
e-books and kids
September 30, 2010
Children between the ages of 6-17 spend less time reading for fun and more time going online and using their phones for fun, but a majority of them are interested in reading an e-book and a third say they would read more books for fun if they had access to e-books, according to a study […]
Boys and reading
September 27, 2010
A recent article in the WSJ “How to Raise Boys Who Read” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405511702112290.html highlights some of the issues at stake when it comes to boys and reading. The Center on Education Policy reports that substantially more boys than girls score below the proficiency level on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test. Why […]
