Posted in Kindergarten Readiness, Reading/Writing on Apr 28th, 2013
My daughter is a single working mom with a 3-year-old son. I think he should enter preschool. She wants him home with me even though I’m sickly. She says a child’s IQ is what it is and preschool isn’t beneficial. She’s making me feel guilty. Is it true that IQ is fixed at birth?
Overwhelmingly, [...]
Posted in Motivating and Organizing Kids, Reading/Writing on Apr 21st, 2013
My son’s second-grade teacher wants me to bring our dog Bella to class to “listen” to students read. Bella, a tranquil 8-year-old Labrador retriever, is a trained guide dog whose owner died recently. The teacher says Bella can help some kids read better. The principal has approved, and my son is excited. Is this a [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on Oct 5th, 2009
The principal sent home a letter asking parents to de-emphasize television and video games, and “promote literacy every day.” Between my new husband and I, we have five children, ages 5 to 11. After a hard day at work, it’s tempting to feed them and toss in a DVD until bedtime. How can we “promote [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on Jul 13th, 2009
This probably isn’t your typical question. My middle-school daughter, Carla, is enamored of that “Twilight” series and every other vampire book she can get hold of. Now that school is out, she devours them, no pun intended. I’m pleased she is reading, but I’m afraid she’s going to discover Anne Rice and her vampire tales [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on Jul 6th, 2009
You recently warned that kids forget what they learn during summer, and you told the mom to read with her son every day. I have two sons, and I wish it were that easy. The second-grader loves to read, but Jack, a fifth-grader, is hard to get involved. He just can’t sit down with a [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on May 25th, 2009
Our school library lends during the summer, but I went with my son Jack I was told kindergarteners can’t check out nonfiction books. Jack loves robots, astronauts, dinosaurs and sports. I protested, but the librarian still wouldn’t allow us to check out a nature series and sports biographies, suggesting stories instead. Why won’t they let [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on Mar 9th, 2009
I read with our young children nightly. I enjoy it, but it takes time. Since my husband was furloughed and I work two jobs, I asked him to take it over, but he says “women” do a better job. How can I get him to pitch in?
This is a more typical “guy” reaction than you [...]
Posted in Reading/Writing on Feb 9th, 2009
We read to our two preschoolers every night. I heard about a new government study that implies reading to children isn’t effective. We love “reading hour,” and I’m convinced our children will value reading more because of it. Am I wrong?
Don’t stop reading to your children. It’s very important. The study you’re referring to is [...]