A World of Books and Children
Search and enjoy 8 years of posts chock-filled with ideas from It’s OK Not to Share and beyond.
Play gets a lot of lip-service in America. You'll find most preschools and kindergartens say they are "play-based." That's because young children learn best through play. But I'm afraid they get it wrong.
One of the scourges of true play is what is known as "centers."
A librarian recently told me about the purging system librarians use. "You can't expect kids today to like the books their parents liked. People always think they can read their childhood favorites to kids. It just doesn't work."
Last week my kids helped me celebrate my birthday with a new family tradition: Reciting poetry. I asked everyone to memorize a poem and recite it on my birthday. The result was lovely. I felt serenaded.
Did a friend of yours write a book? Do you simply adore a book you just read? Ready to show your support for the author but not sure how? Read on!
Readers and authors are partners in spreading good books to wider audiences
There's something about Leo Lionni's beloved children's book, Frederick, that has always bothered me. Frederick is the classic story of a mouse who is a dreamer and a poet. A mouse who is different from all the rest of the field mice.
As parents, we're all English teachers. Our kids learn the sound and rhythm of language from day one, and we enhance it - mostly unknowingly - every day since.
My kid's a napper. Still, at age 5, he collapses daily for a serious, 2-hour long, snoozing, sustaining nap. His bedtime is 8pm, but still he NAPS. Next year he'll be facing full-day kindergarten, where the schedule doesn't include rest time on little mats anymore.
The other day I visited yet another kindergarten classroom where the teachers called all the kids "Friends." "These four friends go to the water table," she said "and these four friends go to snack..." Somehow there's an urge to call all young kids friends.
I’ve learned I’m not the only one. Taking a break from the computer life even has a name: Internet Sabbath.
The simple fact is computers and gadgets distract us.
America has a knack for bullying. It starts young – oh, so young – even before birth. One of the most bullied groups of people in the US today is expectant mothers. Book Review and Giveaway: The Business of Baby, by Jennifer Margulis (Scribner, 2013).