Parents, click on the link below to learn more about the Common Core standards in ELA and what you can do to help your child succeed in school.
The Common Core: English Language Arts______________________________________________________
Creating a Reading Culture at Home
Donalynn Miller
Parents often ask teachers and librarians for tips on how to encourage their children to read more at home. The conditions that foster lifelong reading habits in children are remarkably robust and apply to both home and school reading. Here are some suggestions for parents who want to create a reading culture at home.
Dedicate time for reading. If we make time for what we value, we must set aside reading time each day. Set aside at least twenty minutes each day for family reading time. Each family member may read something of their choice or the family can gather for a shared read aloud.
Carry books. Add a book for every family member to your leaving the house checklist. Running errands, doctor and dental appointments, haircuts, shopping--all provide stolen opportunities to read when children (and adults) are waiting and bored.
Read aloud. For most children, sharing books with family members is their first experience with books. Reading aloud to your children, even into the teenage years, reinforces a pleasurable bond between books and family. Sharing books as a family creates memorable experiences and provides topics for discussions, too.
Provide access to books. Children should experience a "book flood," with abundant access to a wide-range of reading material. Take children to the library, buy books as presents, and subscribe to children's magazines.
Role model a reading life. Children mimic the behaviors we model for them. If they see adults reading daily and enjoying it, children are more likely to perceive reading as meaningful. Adults who read, and share their love of reading with children, send a powerful message that reading matters.
Allow children to choose books. Children should choose most of the books they read. Forcing children to read books that don't interest them turns many kids off reading altogether. While you may bemoan the less than highbrow selections your child chooses to read, support his/her independence and self-direction as a reader by celebrating free choice.
___________________________________________
New York Times Article
The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction
Why read fiction? Studies in neuroscience show that reading narrative fiction can help us better relate to the real world around us.
"Reading great literature, it has long been averred, enlarges and improves us as human beings. Brain science shows this claim is truer than we imagined."
________________________________________
Here are some great ideas to improve communication with your children about how they experience life at school:
25 ways to ask your teen "How was school today?" WITHOUT asking them "How was school today?"
______________________________________________________
The Power of Gratitude
Click here to read more about how gratitude can improve quality of life for both children and adults!
