by Ed Wilkens
Last night at our weekly dinner and chess rendezvous, my father handed me a scrap of yellowed vellum with the quote, "Richer than I you can never be. I had a mother who read to me"―Strickland Gillian, written in my great Aunt Josie’s hand.
“Because you inherited Mom’s love of reading and have made it your life’s work,” he said. “First with your own girls and now with their children, books always have mattered so much.”
I know raising a strong reader is much more than merely displaying and sharing a love of books, but I do believe that is how it begins. So, indulge me if you will, as I reflect on what that has meant to me. I’ll leave the technical and scientific accounts to those more knowledgeable and skilled than I, but I will claim both a love for reading and a mission to help others develop the same appreciation.
by Dr. Blanche Podhajski
Early education is back in the forefront. President Obama is not
alone in valuing the importance of quality experiences during the
earliest years. Educators have long expressed concern about disparities
on the preschool playing field.
Children
of poverty have been reported to have the fewest of these quality
experiences and by four years of age lag behind their peers in basic
language skills that predict becoming literate.
