Thursday Thoughts: Cool Literacy and Learning Links

Brain Teaser

Do we all have “atten­tion deficits”? Or is there some­thing else going on? Let’s try this lit­tle exper­i­ment, con­ceived by Simons and Chabris for their clas­sic study on sus­tained inat­ten­tional blind­ness (1999).

Cool Literacy and Learning Links

The Building Blocks of a Good Pre-K. What do we want our children’s first experiences in school to be? What does a good education look like for 4-year-olds? New York Times, October 21, 2014.

The Missing Piece: Discovering the Joy in Parent-Child Reading. If we hope to produce life-long readers, we need to instill a desire to read, not just because it is important for building a child's school readiness, but because it is fun and it builds parent-child relationships. Huffington Post, October 10, 2014.

5 Games for Busy Parents to Help Their Young Children Learn to Read

Last week, in my Sharing Books, Building Brains blog post, I wrote about the difficulty I have had with not being able to send my kids to preschool due to scheduling and lack of child care. It is a worry to me that my kids may fall behind their peers who are able to attend preschool. I am not an educator and nor do I know how or what to teach my children to ensure they are ready for kindergarten. Making sure they have the early literacy skills needed to become successful readers tops that worry list.

I am lucky to work with many experts in just this area, who have helped me come up with activities to help with early reading that are fun and not overwhelming to me as a mom. They are games that can be played for a couple of minutes here or a couple of minutes there, don’t take a lot of explaining and usually leave my children asking for more.

This week’s five games are all about raising your child’s Phonological Awareness or helping them understand that words are made up of smaller parts. Words are made up of syllables, syllables are made up of letters, letters have individual sounds.

Please note, your kids do not have to know that this is what they are learning, it will automatically happen while you are playing the following games:

Clean It Up!
When it is time to pick up all the toys that have become scattered about you can make it fun and educational. Tell your child that you see something that needs to be picked up and it starts with the letter B, /b/ (make the sound a b makes), B. Your child can then start by picking up the ball or the bulldozer or the book. Keep going until the room is clean.

This game helps children think about the individual sounds in words, by isolating initial sounds.  

Sharing Stories, Building Brains

 

When conversations surrounding the necessity of high-quality preschool became a daily occurrence in the national media, I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was happy. I am a strong supporter of education and these early childhood programs are beneficial to our children and communities. On the other hand, it scared me because I am unable to send my kids to preschool.
 
While the town I live in has an amazing preschool program, the hours are challenging to coordinate with our family’s work schedules. Kids go to school four days a week from 10-2:15 and, unfortunately, at this point in time, there is no care before or after to cover early mornings or later afternoons.

The fact that my children are unable to attend preschool has drastically shifted my perspective on educational responsibility. Preparing our children for school now falls solely to me and my husband.

As a reader, I have made sure that books are an integral part of my children’s upbringing. We read together every day and most nights before bed. Is this enough? I know that reading with your child can alone build vocabulary skills, help children become comfortable with books, serve as a great conversation starter and help provide quality time as a family. But, does this prepare my child for kindergarten?

Where in the World is Brenda "Building Blocks" Buzzell?

Brenda just returned from Orlando, FL. Numbers, year to date 2014, of children positively impacted by Building Blocks for Literacy® program: over 1,000!

Where's Brenda follows our Building Blocks Coordinator, Brenda Buzzell, around the United States as she works with preschool teachers, and early care providers and coordinators to teach them best practices for teaching early literacy skills to children ages three to five. www.buildingblocksforliteracy.org.


 

President's Message: Early Opportunity

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.