As the only girl in a family of five children, yes, I had Barbies. As a mother of a daughter, she did not. I was too conflicted about the mixed messages. And she could always play with them at friends’ homes and at school. She had access, I just did not want to promote them. Until now.
If this is the direction Barbie is going to open a wider world to girls, I’ll buy them as gifts going forward…
So yes, I love, Leo the Late Bloomer, by Robert Kraus and I have a copy of it. Yes, I have a dog named, Leo. But what I love about this book is that it is a great read aloud for children, and an even better one for parents! It is a great story. This post resonated with me for all sorts of reasons. Check it out!
Raising Boys who read! This is a great resource on books for boys.
The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.
There is amazing validity to paying attention to quantity AND quality of sleep!
SLEEP 2015: consolidated research on the importance of sleep for children and their growing brains
See our first ever posting on the NAIS Inspiration Lab! Thanks, Rhys Miller, for getting us launched. Enjoy!
A former student, Mirna Valerio, continues to tear it up gaining increasing attention for her running, coaching, and modeling by doing (read running) as an independent school educator, a cross country coach, a mother and author of a running blog. Go Mirna!
On Friday, September 18, The Seven Hills Lower School hosted our annual Reading Celebration, a moment where we celebrate the summer reading accomplishments of our youngest students. Students log their summer reading and a final tally is shared on this day:
691 hours, 871 books and 32,218 pages to be exact.
Included in this day were guest readers in all of the classrooms and a guest storyteller to kick off the day. Muriel Johnson Muriel Johnson, master story teller! is one of the most talented performers of this genre I have seen engage children so skillfully. They were captivated by her stories, the call and response, and the cultural overtones and sound effects of her talents. She was a big hit!
As I had the chance to be a guest reader later on throughout the day, the best responses I got were to a new children’s book entitled: The Bear at Your Sandwich, by Julia Sarcone-Roach, and a couple of old faithfuls that I love reading: This is Not My Hat and Have You Seen My Hat?, both by Jon Klassen. It was a great day.
Since we know there is no such thing as “too early” when it comes to reading to young children, telling stories and promoting literacy, even in very young children, by allowing them to listen to language, here is a great resource of picture books for the fall.
There are some great new books, some not even released yet, on this list. I like the variety of offerings. I like the variety of purchasing options also linked and readily accessible. I love that there is a history of Winnie (as in “the Pooh”). And apart from the list I am highlighting, there are many others lists organized by age and stage, reading level and themes. A great resource!!
No truer words were ever spoken. So much of this applies to my experience with my own mother and then as a mother to my 24 year old daughter, Hannah. And I also learned so very much from each of them as well…
Thanks, Elizabeth Egan!
Head's Up, Kathleen McNamara 