It’s that time of year again…the time to celebrate Banned Book Week. Held every year on the last week of September, BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or to create books that may sometimes be viewed unorthodox or controversial by some. Their goal is to promote intellectual freedom.
I remember one year in Florida there was [...]
They’re at it again…Cheerios will be giving away free books this fall for their Spoonful of Stories Program!
If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a program that works to donate books to kids who need them. From Cheerios:
In celebration of the 6th anniversary of the Spoonfuls of Stories® program, First Book and Cheerios® are distributing [...]
One of the issues we’re already concerned about is setting a good reading example for our kids. We feel like it’s important to not only read to them, but for them to see us reading on our own as well. Ana is much more apt to read books than I am. I’ve [...]
USA Today has a pretty scathing criticism of Reading First in its editorial section. The crux of the argument is that the system has been duped by textbook publishers into wasting a lot of money on a program that has no value. But does that mean the research is wrong? Is the [...]
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up–thanks to The Common Room for hosting! Just a few of the interesting posts that caught our eye here at RCO:
Hands on ABC Order — some activities you can do with your child to exercise their alphabetizing skills.
First Grade Curriculum Review — great insight from a first year homeschooler [...]
That’s what Philip Pullman and over 80 other authors, illustrators, librarians, and booksellers are saying in their petition against the proposed age banding for children’s books by leading publishers. This proposal looks to add suggested age ranges on children’s books (such as ages 5+ or ages 7-9) in order to help parents, teachers, and kids [...]
Well, according to Esther A. Jantzen’s article in the LA Times, literacy begins at home, and I couldn’t agree more. She had this to say about the study which found that Bush’s Reading First program is not working:
I doubt if anyone with experience in urban education is surprised at the announcement. We’re disappointed that, [...]
According to a Washington Post survey, kids still prefer to read the classics when given the choice.
Children have welcomed the Harry Potter books in recent years like free ice cream in the cafeteria, but the largest survey ever of youthful reading in the United States revealed today that none of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally popular books [...]
The Reading First initiative is a federally funded program that aims to raise student performance by improving reading comprehension (as measured by state tests). The program has very strict guidelines that states and districts must follow in order to receive and maintain funding. Some of these guidelines include:
Having a reading coach - a person [...]
I love it when big companies reach out to help communities and make resources available for free! To honor El Dia de Los Niños - a Latin holiday that celebrates children as the center of the Latino family, the NCFL (National Center for Family Literacy) has released a new Spanish version of their magazine [...]
