Diane shares tips with WTNH TV on how to teach children to LOVE to read.

Talking about a story is the key to children becoming good readers. Read a book. Ask a question. Start a conversation.  

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/ct_style/teaching-kids-to-love-reading#.UIkwo45OTdm

A Complicated Honor

Chinese Mo Yan (a pen name meaning ‘Don’t Speak’ is the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature. He is the first Chinese citizen to win this award.  In 2012 another Chinese citizen, Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but was denied the right to receive the award.  He was serving an 11-year prison sentence, was not permitted to travel and accept his Nobel Peace Prize. It was the first time in 74 years the prestigious $1.2 million Nobel Peace Prize was not handed over.

Both incidents offer the opportunity to have a conversation with children about freedom of expression, censorship and human rights and could not be better timed. They come on the heels of celebrating the week of ‘Freedom to Read’ Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2012.

Here are several questions to jump-start your thinking. 


~ Is there such a thing as a little bit of censorship? 


~ Are books banned in the United States?

~ Should a country have the right to deny an individual the right to accept an award? 


~ Can a best seller be a banned book? 



~ Do you have a favorite book that is found on the list of challenged books and what might be some of the reasons the book found itself on that list?

Here are several links that offer fodder for that conversation:

ALA Frequently Challenged Books

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged

Banned Books That Shaped America: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica

Mapping Censorship. This map is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids' Right to Read Project

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/mappingcensorship

“My best friend if a person who will give me a book I have not read.” Abraham Lincoln

Pictures are worth a thousand words. On November 16, Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated movie, “Lincoln” will be released. This is the perfect opportunity to entice your children to read some amazing book about Lincoln. This pre election season puts us in the right mind set to meet some of my favorites books about this amazing personality,

~ Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship, Russell Freedman

~ Lincoln: A Photobiography, Russell Freedman

~ A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Candace Fleming

Good biography allows us to eavesdrop on the lives of others; travel to new places; and learn about the past. Illustrated biographies tap into a child’s inquisitiveness and showcase information that could easily be in an encyclopedia (but how enjoyable is it to read an encyclopedia?)

Diane says " Reading to your kids is crucial" in SF Chronicle.

By the time children take the SAT, they are too far along in their educaiton to hone the literacy skills they need to be successful. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/Letters-to-the-editor-Sept-29-3903829.php

Children & Reading: What we know

A recent article in the SF Chronicle highlighted that fact that SAT Scores for Reading & Writing are at their lowest levels. B y the time a child takes the SAT, they are too far along in their education to hone the literacy skills they need to be successful. Lets take a look and what we know about children and reading and help to prevent a child getting to that impasse.

~ Reading aloud develops a child’s brain.

~ Read to your newborn; even babies benefit from being read to.

~ Minimize the distractions of all technological devices.

~ Read to your child at least once a day.

~ Implement DEAR in your home: Drop Everything & Read.

~ Make reading aloud part of your family routine.

~ Let the child choose the books.

~ Help children find the books they want to read.

~ Read slowly and interact with the story.

~ Children need to see parents reading.