Category Archives: Kids Korner

Review: Out of School and Into Nature

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Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story
by Suzanne Slade
5 stars

Anna Comstock loved nature from a young age, and grew up watching the world around her. She married an entomologist she met at Cornell, who piqued her interest in drawing bugs. Her illustrations were both beautiful and accurate representations of the specimens she studied. Comstock became the first female professor at Cornell, and one of the first instructors to bring students out into nature to study, helping popularize nature study throughout the country.

Suzanne Slade’s book is beautifully illustrated, and focuses entirely on Comstock. With sweet, lilting quotes that convey her passion for nature, Comstock is wonderfully portrayed in this biography.

 

Read-alikes

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez

Swimming with Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark by Heather Lang

Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith

 

Yes Day

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Jennifer Garner recently posted that she has a tradition with her kids – one day a year, she says, “Yes” to anything her kids ask. This can be anything from going to a theme park or getting ice cream, but can’t be something that lasts more than one day, like a vacation or a pony. The idea has gotten to be trendy, and it is all based on Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld’s book Yes Day!

In the book Yes Day! the main protagonist is a little boy who wakes up excited for his favorite day of the year, Yes Day. He starts the day asking for pizza for breakfast, asks for hair gel to spike his hair, picks the most sugary cereals at the supermarket, and gets to stay up really late watching movies. None of his requests are really expensive. Mostly, they are things parents typically say “no” to because they would be unhealthy or inconvenient for children to have every day of the year, but it won’t hurt them to have on occasion.

If you’d like to have your own Yes Day, make sure your kids know up front what is allowed and what isn’t. (For instance, dying hair may be okay, but spending $500 in toys is not.) And speaking of toys, think about what you say when your child asks for a toy in the supermarket. Many parents will tell their children, “Not now, but remember to put it on your list for Santa” or “Maybe on your birthday.” A similar concept can be done with Yes Day. When you feel bad for having to deny your children’s request to read twenty stories before bedtime or go out for ice cream, you can remind them that they can ask for these things on Yes Day.

Have you tried a “Yes Day?” What were your experiences?

What’s New in Storytime?

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Recently I began a new phonological awareness program with the kids in Smart Start Story Time. This program is from the curriculum adopted by Greenwood Schools by Michael Heggerty, PhD and is the pre-kindergarten component. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. This is one of the most important skills that predict reading ability. So, if you hear the familiar refrain of, “It’s rhyming time, it’s rhyming time, it’s rhyming time, OH YEAH!!!!” That’s one of our new warm up exercises in story time. We will be doing, “Take 2 words and put them together” for compound words and lots of work on the first and last sound you hear in a word. Research has shown that playing with words in this way helps develop their expertise in isolating sounds. According to the website, Reading Rockets, here are some things you can do at home:

  • Help your child think of a number of words that start with the /m/ or /ch/ sound, or other beginning sounds.
  • Make up silly sentences with words that begin with the same sound, such as “Nobody was nice to Nancy’s neighbor”.
  • Play simple rhyming or blending games with your child, such as taking turns coming up with words that rhyme (go – no) or blending simple words (/d/, /o/, /g/ = dog).
  • Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, short poems, and songs.
  • Practice the alphabet by pointing out letters wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books.
  • Consider using computer software that focuses on developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills. Many of these programs use colorful graphics and animation that keep young children engaged and motivated.
  • Follow this link for more information on phonological and phonemic awareness: https://tinyurl.com/39jekm3

Below is a wonderful video on a classroom that uses this method:

 

 

Native American Heritage Month

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November is Native American Heritage Month here in the United States. First officially designated in 1990 by President Bush, the month is designed to give space for Native people in the United States to share and celebrate their culture. Finding books with honest portrayals of Native people (especially those written by Native authors) is not an easy task. With the help of Debbie Reese’s blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature, here’s a list of our favorites.

 

The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales  by James Bruchac
An anthology of Native American folk tales from across the country. Bruchac includes important historical and cultural context for each tale, and tales are kept short ensuring that they can be read in one sitting. Beautiful oil-on-wood illustrations can be found throughout.  Recommended for ages 8+

 

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom  by Tim Tingle
In the early 1800s, the Bok Chitto river separated the sovereign Choctaw nation from Mississippi plantations. Enslaved people who were able to cross the river were free, and according to legend the Choctaw people has built a path of stones just underneath the water to help them escape. This picture book tells the story of a Choctaw boy who helps save his enslaved friend. Heart-warming, exciting, and beautifully illustrated. Recommended for ages 7+

 

Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School
This collection of poems was written by middle schoolers at Red Cloud Indian School and assembled by their teachers. It gives their personal accounts of their experiences and identities as Lakota people. Recommended for ages  11+

 

Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina  by Maria Tallchief
Maria Tallchief was America’s first major Prima Ballerina, and the first Native American to hold the rank. Her parents worked with her to help her become the best dancer she could be. In this picture book, she tells her story of how she came to dance and the success she found in her career. Recommended for ages 7+

 

 

The Birchbark House  by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich is Ojibwe, as are her characters in the Birchbark House series. The Birchbard House is the first book, and it follows Omakayas and her family as they live on an island in Lake Superior around 1847. We learn about their stories, traditions, and ways of life. Great for fans of the Little House series who want an accurate representation of some Native American lives during pioneer times. Recommended for ages 9+

 

Sweetest Kulu  by Celina Kalluk
Kalluk writes a sweet, lulling bedtime story about an Inuit mother singing her baby to sleep. Readers learn about Inuit values, with people and animals coexisting together. Written by acclaimed Inuit throat singer Celina Kalluk, this is a beautiful #OwnVoices pick, perfect for young children and new parents. Recommended for all ages.

 

 

 

 

 

The Quest to Read

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By Anne Guthrie and Cheryl Clemens

As a parents one of our most common concerns is that our children are taught to read proficiently. October is Dyslexia Awareness Month so we have prepared a display of the plethora of resources we have accumulated to help parents and teachers with this momentous task. Research (NIH and Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity) shows that to some degree, nearly 20% of the population are affected by dyslexia.

What is Dyslexia?

It is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.  These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.  Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge

Few children are identified.
Less than one-third of the children reading below their age, ability or grade level receive appropriate services for their specific reading difficulty. (Connecticut Longitudinal Study)

Or dyslexics are identified too late.
When dyslexia is identified, it often occurs past the optimal age for remediation. (Shaywitz, Gaab)

Reading failure is preventable.
Research shows that 95% of reading failure is preventable by using appropriate reading systems and well-trained teachers. (Shaywitz)

Warning Signs:

  • May have a family history of dyslexia: Between one quarter and one half of children born to dyslexic parents will also be dyslexic. If one child in a family is dyslexic, almost half of his siblings are also likely to be dyslexic.
  • Delayed speech: The child may not speak words until 15 months and phrases until after 2 years
  • Mispronounces familiar words; Persistent baby talk
  • Difficulty learning colors
  • Trouble Learning Common Nursery Rhymes
  • A lack of appreciation of rhymes

Early Intervention is Critical

When intervention is delayed, it takes four times as long to intervene in fourth grade as it does in late kindergarten because of brain development and because of the increase in content for students to learn as they grow older. (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

 

Please stop in and check out the wonderful resources we have about this important topic!

Dyslexia Books and Resources @ GPL

Books for Parents:

The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning by Ben Foss

The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children with Dyslexia by Abigail Marshall

When Your Child has Dyslexia by Abigail Marshall

The Dyslexia Checklist: A Practical Reference for Parents and Teachers by Sandra F. Rief and Judith M. Stern

Dyslexia Advocate! How to Advocate for a Child with Dyslexia within the Public Education System by Kelli Sandman-Hurley

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at any Level by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.

 

Instructional Books:

Recipe for Reading: Intervention Strategies for Struggling Readers by Frances Bloom and Nina Traub

Toe by Toe: A Highly Structured Multi-Sensory Reading Manual for Teachers & Parents by Keda Cowling and Harry Cowling

The Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Children with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship by Anna Gillingham and Bessie W. Stillman

Get Ready for the Code: A Primer for the Explode the Code Series by Nancy Hall

Explode the Code: Essential Lessons for Phonics Mastery 1 and 2 by Nancy Hall

Blast Off to Reading! A Complete Reading Program: 50 Orton Gillingham Based Lessons for Struggling Readers and those with Dyslexia by Cheryl Orlassino

I Can Read: Reading & Writing Lessons with Worksheets by Cheryl Orlassino

A Workbook for Dyslexics: Systematically Walk Your Child Through the Process of Learning to Read and Write by Cheryl Orlassino

Dyslexia: A Practitioner’s Handbook by Gavin Reid

 

Books on Dyscalculia:

The Dyscalculia Resource Book: Games and Puzzles for ages 7 to 14 by Ronit Bird

The Dyscalculia Tool Kit by Ronit Bird

 

Controlled Vocabulary Phonics Readers:

Abrams Learning Trends Phonics Readers

EPS School Specialty Primary Phonics

Scholastic Phonics Ready Readers

SRA Open Court Reading Decodable Books

 

Movie:

The Big Picture Rethinking Dyslexia: The Myths, the Stigmas, the Truths, Revealed