Literacy Launchpad

Launchpad Links

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Scholastic's Pinterest Boards (and Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine's Boards)

Literacy "Retell Centers" at Kindergarten Works

Raising Bookworms at Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources

Literary Mixtape: Harriet the Spy at Flavorwire

How New York Pay Phones Became Guerrilla Libraries at The Atlantic Cities

Writing Tips For Preschoolers

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:17:00 +0000

I am sharing my thoughts as a part of the Superb Writers’ Blogathon. In partnership with Grammarly grammar checker, this series is bringing helpful hints to aspiring writers.

February at Literacy Launchpad has been author study month! We’ve been reading all the Mo Willems we can get our hands on, and thinking like authors ourselves!

I’m sure it’s not news to any of you reading this that reading and writing skills are linked. But as an early childhood educator, I have a tendency to lean much more heavily into the reading side of literacy when I’m teaching. I really need to be giving proper attention to writing as well.

To get my writing teacher juices flowing this week, I hit the juvenille non-fiction shelves on our weekly trip to the library and brought home a stack of writing books to flip through and get inspired!*

Here are some of the tips I brushed up on and how you might translate them to writing with little writers:

Read! - We’ve all heard this over and over: if you want to be a good writer, you must read plenty of books. All kinds of books!

For preschool writers: Read books with your little kiddos through the eyes of a writer. Before, during, and after you read a book, wonder aloud about why the author might have written it, things you like about the story, or how you might have written the ending differently.

Find a writing space - Have a place to work that allows you to focus, while also fostering your creativity.

For preschool writers: Create a writing center for them. Need some inspiration and ideas for a writing center? Look HERE!

Look for Ideas - Carry a notebook or pad with you at all times and jot your ideas down as they pop into your head. Ask yourself “what-if” questions to get the juices flowing. Become an observer of the people and places that surround you each day; take notes, notice details.

For preschool writers: My preschooler has been coming up with all kinds of ideas for stories lately and it all started with me simply suggesting we make a book about some silly little thing that happened one day. Now he sees story ideas everywhere! I really need to get a notepad to write these down on - more writing modeling and practicing!

Make sure you have solid structure to all the elements of your story: good beginning and end, interesting characters, plenty of action (things happening).

For preschool writers: I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on this right now. Just get them writing (or pretend writing). They can even dictate to you and have you write things down for them. My son likes to have me write words and then he copies them

Practice! Practice! - The only way to get better at something is to do it lots and lots. Write everyday! What they say is true: practice makes perfect!

For preschool writers: I think I have mentioned before an idea I saw once about instituting a “Read O’Clock” time at your house each day? Perhaps there could be a Write O’Clock time too? Even to just have writing materials always readily available to your child is extremely valuable in fostering those early literacy skills. Go to the office supply store and buy some irresistible writing tools; think of all those fun office supplies they always want to play with at your office!

Rewrite - Keep working, and working, and working your story/article/poem till it’s right.

For preschool writers: Little kids have little attention spans. Let your child start a story in their writing center one day, and then come back to work on it more another day. Perhaps have a blank book that they complete a page in each day, or each week. Do some journaling! Let them revise and make changes as they please (we all know how fickle preschoolers can sometimes be). Just let them have fun with it!

Be specific - Use beautiful details and descriptions in your writing

For preschool writers: As a parent or teacher, model new vocabulary for them. Point out the descriptive words in the books you read. If they are “writing” a story with you, ask them questions about what they dictate to you (“What color was the dress she was wearing?”) and add those details to the text of their story.

Early writing practice can occur in many different ways, shapes, and forms:

Letting your child draw illustrations for a book, and then describe his pictures to you as you write in the text.
Letting your child practice tracing letters, or engage in some other kind of basic, tactile activity to practice writing their letters.
Making a list together
Writing a letter to grandma
Letting them scribble to their hearts delight - that’s how writing begins!
Giving them rubber alphabet stamps to create with
Letting them trace letter and words
Writing alphabet letters in sand, fingerprints, shaving cream, play dough...

Children can (and should) be practicing their pre-writing skills right along with practicing their pre-reading skills.

Click HERE to check out some picture books about writing!

Use these FREE word bubble printables to add some extra fun to your writing center!

Here's some other fun stuff to use with your little writers:

*What books did I use from the library? So glad you asked!

My Library's Storytime Can Beat Up Your Library's Storytime!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:19:00 +0000

Our local children's librarian has really devoted a lot attention to making her preschool storytime GREAT! Attendance seems to be increasing every week (from what I can tell). Lately, your lucky if you can find a spot to sit if you're even a little late.

I have visited my fair share of storytimes that were duds. So to have such an amazing children's librarian in our small town here is a blessing! She always chooses great themes and her after-story-projects are so much fun!

When it's time for craft My Little Reader and I go sprinting for a coveted spot at a table, and our lovely librarian is often scrambling to cut extra craft pieces out to meet the ever increasing demand. A great problem to have!

Today's storytime theme was alligators.

Meaningful Literacy Experiences - Winter Style!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:45:00 +0000

Jan Brett's The Hat

This horse is wishing for a "hat" like Hedgie's.

He can find one on the clothesline!

Hedgie laughs and says, "Don't they know that animals should never wear clothes?"

Denise Fleming's The First Day of Winter

Predicting (our focus during the month of January) what snowman accessories are hidden under the sheet.

... Then dressing up like silly snowmen!

Other Fun

Writing a letter for The Jolly Christmas Postman (Allen and Janet Ahlberg) to deliver!

Enjoying some good books by the fire during the month of December.

I can read with my rebus reader!

Digging for the alphabet!

Why motivation?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:02:00 +0000

When I talk with the parents of potential students, many of them want to know how I'm going to teach their preschooler to read. But teaching a preschooler how to read is not the mission of Literacy Launchpad. True, it is sometimes a happy by-product of what happens in class. But the core mission of Literacy Launchpad is to motivate and empower children to soar into reading.

What do I mean by motivate and empower? To motivate someone is to provide them with motivation, a need or desire to act. In this case, we're providing motivation to read, or to be read to. The empowerment part is where we strive to give them the pre-reading skills that have been shown to be necessary to learning to read (vocab, phonological awareness, narrative or sequencing skills, print awareness, letter knowledge, and motivation).

Literacy Launchpad gives children a weekly dose of fun with books (motivation), whilst teaching basic pre-reading skills that empowers them with what they need to learn how to read when they head into kindergarten.

As a child, though I was a good reader, I was not an avid reader and had a lack of motivation in that area. I love to read now. But looking back, I wish more of a motivation had been instilled in me earlier in life. And that's a big part of why I wanted to begin a program like Literacy Launchpad.

Recently though, I have seen the reason why motivation is so important really come alive for me. I have two school age children now that are eleven and eight years old. They have only been in our family for a little over a year now, and didn't have much (if any) schooling prior to coming to America. In fact, I would venture to say that they were never read to as children, and probably didn't even have much exposure to books. Now for some children that come from this kind of a background, this develops a healthy appetite and respect for books and knowledge. Once they have access to what they have long been denied, they gobble it up. But this is not the case for every child with this kind of history.

My older children are struggling to learn to read, and it appears that motivation is the biggest hindrance to their learning. They don't see the value in reading. They have never experienced the joy, or seen others experience the joy of books. They have made it this long without knowing how to read, so why learn now? Couple that with feelings of inferiority and shame when they see how far ahead other children their age are in reading, and you end up with a big ole case of I-Don't-Wanna.

When I came home from a recent vacation with my hubby, my children were totally befuddled by photos of me lounging with books and reading. They didn't understand why somebody would be reading while on vacation. I didn't understand this befuddlement, as they see me reading frequently at home; it is obviously something I enjoy doing. But they still seem to see it as something you only do if you have to. I had to explain that people love to spend time reading, especially on vacations, and that many other vacationers were reading as well (not just me). This is normal! People read because they want to read, because they enjoy it. This was news to them.

My children had no Literacy Launchpad in their preschool years. They had nobody reading and cuddling with them. They had nobody taking them to the library. They had no teachers sharing and talking about their favorite books with them. They didn't have a house full of books. They didn't see adults around them reading.

They now have all those things in spades. But their early childhood deprivation has led to a serious lack of current motivation. And a lack of motivation can make learning to read, an already challenging task for ELL children, nearly impossible.

So to all those parents that want their children learning to read in preschool: I understand that desire. I would love for my preschooler to start reading soon too. But you can be the best reader in the world, and if you don't want to do it, or you don't like to do it, or you don't understand why you do it, you won't. And often when we begin formal reading instructions with preschoolers (often in the form of ditto sheets, drills, and memorization), we make miss the fun and the joy, we make it something we want, instead of letting our kids want it, and we can unintentionally suck all the motivation right out of our kids. (Did you know Finland has one of the best education systems in the world and their children don't begin school till age 7? Many of them teach themselves to read at home by watching English language TV with Finnish subtitles - motivation!)

We continue to plug away at reading here in our home. But seeing my children's struggle has further affirmed me in my Literacy Launchpad mission. I can't change the past for my children, but I can be a part of changing their future, and I can continue equipping all my Literacy Launchpad students for a future full reading success!!

New School! New Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:10:00 +0000

One of my lovely students recently moved to a new school, and her sweet mother was such a fan of Literacy Launchpad that she wanted Literacy Launchpad to tag along with them on their move. I felt so honored by this high compliment and was grateful for the opportunity to spread the reading love to more children.

I'm not sure I've ever felt so welcomed at a new school! I feel it's a strong testament to a school that so values the education of their students that they make an enthusiastic effort to bring in a program like Literacy Launchpad. Most schools are not as easy to work with as this wonderful new home Literacy Launchpad finds itself in. I am having such a good time there already. Check it out!

We've been reading wintery tales this month. Here are a couple photos from our The Hat (Jan Brett) lesson. We decorated "woolens" to hang on our own clothesline. Then we made some silly animal puppets to use to retell the story. Everybody's animal got a turn to snatch a woolen from the clothesline and wear it as a hat!

We also read The First Day of Winter (Denise Fleming), and as we talked about predicting, we played a fun game to give us some practice. The students took turns feeling hidden snowman adornments and made predictions of what they thought each item might be. It was hard not to peek, but they did great! And we took turns trying on the various items. It was hysterical. The kids could have played this all day!

We also read Owl Moon (Jane Yolen), and had a very fun time going "owling" in class. The kids kept wanting to "do it again!" But my photos from that lesson aren't handy at the moment.

Why There's Nothing Quite Like A Book

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:07:00 +0000

Getting Cozy In December

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:28:00 +0000

December is all about print awareness. We are learning about the purpose print serves and practicing our hand at "reading" and "writing" our own print!

Last week we read The Jolly Christmas Postman by Allan and Janet Ahlberg. I let the kids play with all the fun pieces in the pockets within the book. We played a game of Bingo (our version was called "MAIL") that had the finding each word on their game cards (with the assistance of pictures). After the game we "wrote" our own letter to be mailed or delivered ourselves. The kids adored getting to mess around with my notepads and fancy pens and envelopes.

This week we read The Three Bears' Christmas by Kathy Duval. The kids got a kick out of this fun twist on the classic fairy tale. After I read it to them, then they got their own rebus reader version to read with me. They all did fantastic with it! Better than I imagined. What really impressed me was how they all wanted to read it with me. I worried that it might be an activity that wouldn't really hold their interest, but they loved it and really took ownership of it. I sent them home with the assignment of reading it to someone at their house. They all seemed to take that very seriously, and so I can't wait to hear how their reading went when I see them again next week.

I had a blast making this fun little faux fireplace to take to class with me this month. The idea behind it was that I wanted to use this as a spring board for talking up the idea of curling up with a good book, in a cozy place, during the winter months. I brought in a bunch of Christmas books and laid them around the fireplace, and as they finished their work and headed over to have a look, I chatted with them about where they like to read at home. It kind of took a funny turn when I heard about some of the places their mommies and daddies like to read too (the bathroom). I love that my students have great reading role models at home! I will bring my fireplace again next week and see if I can entice a few more students to curl up with a book in front of it!

Pinterest Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I have spent many a' evenings perusing Pinterest when I should be cooking up a blog post for y'all. So tonight I decided to kill two birds with one stone and share a handful of the fun stuff I've been finding on Pinterest. (Have you pinned yet? You must! But I'll warn ya, it's addictive!)

(Found here)

SPIDERS!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:13:00 +0000

October is a month of spiders at Literacy Launchpad. I've been doing my best to freak the kids out (in a preschooler-friendly, G-rated way) with these creepy crawlers. My favorite is my friend Harry that I bring along each week. He's a furry little fake spider, with a long tube attached to him, with a bulb at the end that you use to pump air through the tube that makes him jump and wiggle. I try to wear something that allows me to wind the tube through my sleeve and really freak them out when I make him move. But the first week in October I had on short sleeves and I still startled quite a few of my students. Then those very same students were startled the following week when Harry came back, even though they knew how he worked at that point. I love preschoolers! One little boy said, "It's a necklace! It's a necklace. It's a necklace... Right?" Hee.

We read The Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Roly Poly Spider to start off October. The Itsy Bitsy Spider lends itself well to some predicting practice. The kids like to see if they can guess what's going to send the spider flying. And The Roly Poly Spider is all kinds of fun, because it's kind of gross. So we have all kinds of fun ewwwing and ickking at each page turn. The kids all pointed out that this spider was "not a good friend." Indeed! Smart kids!

We reviewed and practiced the sequence of The Itsy Bitsy Spider with a fun activity in which we sent plastic spiders down a piece of a real water spout. This also helps connect this story to real life and make the story concept more concrete for the kids. Most of them ended up saying, "Oh! I have a water spout on my house too!" And then they could actually see just how a big gush of water might wash a spider out of a water spout.

Michael Finnegan

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:51:00 +0000

I'm still playing catch-up with keeping you all posted on what we've been up to in class.

At the end of September we wrapped up our Names unit with a book based on one of the most fun, rhyming, names, songs - There Once Was A Man Named Michael Finnegan. There are certain books that are just more fun to read aloud, and this is one of them. I kind of sang the song as I read the text. The kids stayed riveted the entire time. I love those kinds of lessons.

We made Michael Finnegan puppets out of paper plates, complete with whiskers that grow out and in again! So. Much. Fun. We sang the song lots of times as we played with our puppets. What wonderful rhyming practice!

Library Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:33:00 +0000

Last month I bought some inexpensive canvas bags from Walmart, along with some puffy paints, and let my kids decorate their own library bags. The idea was to get them a little more excited about choosing their own books at the library since they would have their own personalized bag for carrying them.

It's been working great with my three year old. I bring his bag along on our weekly trips to story time, and he proudly throws it over his shoulder as he browses the book shelves during our visit. He has become more discerning in choosing his books lately. He used to just choose any old book off the shelf. Now he'll carefully examine each cover (the wrong way to judge a book, I know. Hee), and often put the book back on the shelf. Sometimes I'll pull a book off the shelf to suggest to him, but my selections have been getting shot down a lot lately. (In addition to my preschoolers book selections, I usually choose a stack of picture books on my own, that he doesn't get any say in.) Today he chose several books, but was particularly proud of a tiger story that he picked.

My older son has yet to make his bag. He was busy doing something else when we were painting and hasn't taken the time to sit down and paint his yet. My daughter has painted her bag, but has yet to use it. I'm still trying to figure out a good routine for bringing my older two to the library. It's tough to make it work with their school schedule, and the various other activities during the week. And it's even harder to force myself to do it, when it's like pulling teeth to get them to go. My preschooler that I've had since birth loves going to the library though. Tough!

I would love to hear how you work in library visits during the week with your school aged kiddos. Do tell!

We HEART Our Local Library!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:59:00 +0000

My Little Reader and I have had our fair share of library story time disappointment. We did finally fall in love with a librarian at one library, only to have our hearts broken when she left her position at the library. And even though we did love her enthusiastic and engaging read alouds, the craft time following the story reading always seemed a bit lacking in thought and effort.

BUT now we have discovered Ms. Marsha at the library right across town from us, and we LOVE her story hours. She is able to keep her audience captivated (as captivated as you can keep several dozen toddlers and preschoolers) without shouting the words she's reading or rushing through the books. Her storytimes have distinct themes, and the crafts always correlate with the stories, and are well thought out.

I actually suggested to My Little Reader that we go to the story time at the library further away this week, because we had some books on hold, and he staunchly opposed me. He wanted to go to make "crafts" at "the small library." I didn't have the heart to deny his request, so we visited both libraries that day, and he had a ball.

This week there was a food theme to story hour. We missed the beginning (I can never seem to get anywhere on time lately), but made it in time for Marsupial Sue Presents The Runaway Pancake. Check out the pancake My Little Reader made. He insisted on making a face with the fixins, and then ate every last bite of it all.

Yes, You Can Play on the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 05:03:00 +0000

My kids have a technology addiction. Well, my older ones do. I am completely frustrated by this fact, even though I know I haven't had much influence over this addiction. (From what I hear, they were pretty screen addicted even in their native country.) And for several reasons I won't go into here, screens are just preferable over most other options for my adopted kiddos. And boy, is it ever harder to change an existing habit, or preference in someone, than it is to help guide those habits and preferences right from the beginning.

We don't forbid screen time, but we do try to limit it. It tends to not get turned on during the week because we are so busy with other things, but the weekends require the more heavy monitoring.

But there is one screen in our house that I don't mind the kids using as much; it's our iPad. We just recently purchased an iPad, and one of the main reasons for this purchase was to help make learning more appealing to, and fun for, our kids. We loaded it up with learning games and books and unveiled it.

The kids were initially thrilled about the purchase, but when they discovered that it didn't have all the junk games on it that they love so much on our iPhones (and that don't get to play anymore, because I'm tired of constantly being asked for my phone), it lost a little bit of it's initial appeal.

One of our criticisms of the iPad is that you can't really put restrictions on it, or have separate users like you can on a typical computer. So if my husband or I want to put a junk game on iPad for us, the kids end up seeing it and wanting to play it too. It's kind of maddening.

Despite it's drawbacks, if I can use something they're addicted to (screens), to help foster a love of reading, and to make reading and learning more appealing, I think it is a completely appropriate tool for them to have monitored access to.

Our favorite children's book for the iPad is The Monster At the End of This Book. The Tale of Peter Rabbit probably comes in at a close second. I have included some photos of My Little Reader and his cousins being read to on the iPad by their Papa.

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on iPads and eReaders. Like 'em? Hate 'em? What are your favorite books and educational apps?

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:36:00 +0000

Last week was the first time I've taught a Literacy Launchpad lesson in over a year (visit my other blog here to get a peek at WHY I've been gone for a while)! It felt WONDERFUL to be back at it. You have no idea how much I was missing it!

We kicked it all off with The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers. It's a fun book, and it works really well to begin a year of incredible reading. The kids all seemed excited about being dubbed "Incredible Book Reading Boys/Girls."

We played a game where we fed Henry's mouth books, and then when that didn't go so well (made our "Henry" sick) we fed his brain books instead. Of course, we first had to create some good books to fill up that brain of his. We ended up with books about dinosaurs, tornados, rainbows, and pumpkins to name a few.

This week it will be fun to see their reaction to getting to go to "reading class" again now that they know what it's all about.

Here are a few photos of us feeding Henry's brain.

Reading Journals

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:29:00 +0000

As someone who enjoys reading, and enjoys reading to my children, I cannot believe it has never dawned on me (till now) to be keeping a record of the books we read. As I was driving home from visiting Chicago this weekend, I was thinking about how it would be nice to keep track of the books I have read. I started thinking about what a nice keepsake that might be for my kids and grandkids to have someday (I know I would love to see a journal of what my grandma was reading when she was my age). And then I started thinking about all the books I read with my kids, and all the fun we have talking about these stories and reading them over and over. And I wondered why I haven't been keeping track of all that! I am sad about all the reading memories I have let slip away from us, but I'm excited to go ahead and get going with our reading journaling NOW. Better late than never!

I found lots of suggestions online for what kinds of things you can reflect on and write about in your reading journal, but I plan to keep mine pretty simple. I would like to remember when I read the book, why I read the book, where I read the book (on a plane, vacation, at soccer practice), and then just some general reactions to the book. I would mostly like to use this journal as a way to help record my life. If it evolves into something more than that, fine, but I'm not going to put a lot of pressure on myself to be composing in-depth book reports on every book I read.

As far as journaling what my kids are reading, I plan to keep that simple too. I will follow the same basic guidelines as what I laid out above, but will include what my kids' reactions were, and any activities we may have done following and/or related to the book. I also might include what kinds of curiosity it sparked and what other books it may have led to us reading.

My children can't do much writing yet, so they can't contribute much to the journals yet in that regard, but I might try to have them add some drawings here and there.

I will probably keep it simple with some cheap, basic notebooks, unless I come up with some uber creative idea, or find a reading journal I just can't resist purchasing. You'll see I included a couple photos in this post of some cute ones I found online. You can purchase those HERE and HERE.

Ever kept a reading journal for yourself or your kids? Any tips or ideas to share? Chime in down in the comments! I'm all ears!

End of Summer Literacy Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:40:00 +0000

My first summer with three kids was... interesting. I had lofty plans for activities and learning, but most of them didn't happen. We did have fun celebrating summer today though with some reading and a little field trip.

We got a couple books from the library about ice cream, and read a little on the subject before we headed out to visit our local dairy plant.

I must admit, we were a bit disappointed in our visit to the dairy plant. There was no actual tour. Their idea of a "tour" was to let us watch a video on how they make their various dairy products. Kind of lame.

But we took a picture with a (fake) cow!

And we got free ice cream! So it wasn't a total bust. Turns out they don't even make ice cream at the plant we visit. They make it in Chattanooga.

Anyhow, we decided to go up to the store and buy some rock salt so we could make ice cream ourselves. We found directions online for making ice cream without an ice cream maker (because we don't have one), using just ziploc baggies, rock salt, and then stuff pretty much everybody has around the kitchen (ice cubes, milk, sugar, and vanilla). I was pretty skeptical as to whether this was actually going to work or not, but it did! I ended up doing all the shaking, because the bags were too heavy for the three year old and my two big kids were busy teaching themselves the Cha-Cha Slide (don't ask). It only took five minutes though! And it was really yummy! Downside: It didn't make very much, and it melted REALLY fast.

Here's Isaac giving a "thumbs up" (we'll have to work on that) for his ice cream.

Other books about ice cream:

The Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger and Julie Downing

I Am An Ice Cream Truck by Ace Landers

Milk to Ice Cream by Inez Snyder

Wemberly's Ice Cream Star by Kevin Henkes

I Like Ice Cream by Robin Pickering

Should I Share My Ice Cream by Mo Willems

From Cow to Ice Cream by Bertram T. Knight

Ice Cream by Elisha Cooper

Yummy Ice Cream: A Book About Sharing by Emma Quay and Anna

Guilty Confession of A Literacy Teacher:

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:28:00 +0000

None of my kids can read.

O.K. so one of them is only three, and the other two have only just recently moved to this country (from Ethiopia) and learned English. But in all honesty, I feel they should all be closer to reading than they are. My oldest daughter really wants to read and has a lot of anxiety about starting school again next month because she can't read. Problem is, she wants me to like zap her with the power to read and just be done with it like that. She is not very motivated to put the work in to actually figuring it out with me. She has actually told me numerous times that her brain is broken and she can't learn how to read.

Guilty confession number 2: I have actually considered hiring a tutor to teach my daughter to read.

I can't tell you how many people have told me how great I'm going to be at teaching my kids English, and teaching then how to read. I should be, right? I mean, heck, I'm the "Literacy Launchpad Lady" for crying out loud! But, my forte is more getting kids prepped for learning to read, and instilling motivation in them. I work with preschoolers who aren't at the actual reading stage yet. So when you put me and my daughter together, who already struggle to connect just as a mother and daughter, add the stress of learning to read (with all the anxiety surrounding it on my daughter's part), add a traumatized brain that struggles to retain info, add two brothers who have to be up in everybody's business all the time, and add the fatigue from all our summer activities... it's just tough!

Right now we're still just working on letter sounds. I think she finally has the letter names down. Progress! But yes, very slow progress.

Fumbling Through Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:35:00 +0000

Forgive me for my absence here. I'm new to the whole being a mom of three kids over summer break thing. It's time consuming. I'll be back. Promise!

Summer Reading Programs and Summer Homeschooling

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Summer is totally kicking my butt this year. Hence my lack of posts lately.

Took my kids up to one of our local libraries last week to get them signed up for the summer reading program. I was a bit disappointed. I signed them up as pre-readers since that's what they are. But I'm thinking I may have to go and see if they'll make an exception for us, and let them do the regular reading program. The pre-readers are given these little Bingo-type cards with various different activities on them and they have to cross 10 off to win their first prize, and then another 10 to get their second. The activities are so simple, and my kids are so eager to get their prize, that they had 10 crossed off in less than a week. At this rate, they'll have completed the entire summer reading program in less than three weeks. And it really isn't challenging them at all.

In other news, we are trying to start some reading instruction this summer (squeezing our lessons in between ESL summer school and swimming at the pool). We haven't made much progress yet. Much of the time I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall. It's tough when you've got one that is so easily discouraged, but yet puts hardly any effort into even TRYING.

Anybody else participating in a summer reading program with their kids? How are you liking it?

Writing Books, Preserving Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Sat, 14 May 2011 04:51:00 +0000

I stumbled upon a wonderful idea for preserving family memories while I was surfing the net for summer survival ideas to keep us busy once school ends for the year. I wish I could remember where I found this idea, but the gist of it is to keep a little drawing journal of family memories. The thought is that this is easier and less time consuming than scrapbooking, and so more memories can be recorded and preserved.

I loved the idea, and it also sounded like a great way to help the bonding process with my Ethiopian children, as we could read the journal together and have warm fuzzy feelings about the memories we have made.

When my kids initially discovered my sketchbook and box of crayons on my nightstand, they started asking questions, and even though I only had a few entries completed, I went ahead and read them my journal. I explained that I have been recording memories in my journal in the evening before I go to bed. Then I read the completed entries to them, and they LOVED IT! And since that first reading they have requested additional readings, and have also asked for their own drawing journals.

I just gave them their blank journals this week, and they are already filling them up. I love that they sit in their beds at night and draw in them, because I told them that's when I do my drawing. They tell me what they want to write in their journals, and then I write it down on a sheet of paper and they copy the words into their books (they can't write independently yet). Then they illustrate them too, of course!

My daughter even decided she wanted to type some of her text up on the computer last night. She needed a lot of help, but it was great literacy practice, as well as great computer practice!

I'm not a scrapbooker, so this is a perfect way for me to visually record some family memories. And it is all great literacy practice for my kiddos. Check out these photos from our journals:

Mommy's journal

Mel's journal

Mary's journal (note: the brown circles in the drawing of the pool here are coins that they were playing with... not poop, as it kind of looks like)

I also bought a journal for Isaac, but he's been falling asleep every evening before our journaling time, so his is still empty.

Caught Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:58:00 +0000

I still don't catch my older kids reading much. But they also spend much of their time at school, so there's not as much opportunity to catch them reading (couple that with the fact that they still don't know how to read, and are still learning English). But here are a few snapshots of literacy going on around here.

Doing a puppet show at the library.

Drawn and written by my older son.

More puppet show.

Reading magazines at the library while Mommy browses the shelves.

Being read to by Cousin Kylynn.

Why Don't Teachers Like Reading?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Photo by woodleywonderworks

I am convinced that there is a large number of elementary school teachers out there that do not like reading. Or maybe just don't love it. Or is it that they simply don't know how to pass on the passion? What other explanation is there for why more children don't enjoy this pastime?

I'm especially bent out of shape about this today because I've been reading Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer while battling through trite reading logs with one of my children, and wading through mounds of ditto sheets that come home with them everyday. I hate, hate, hate the reading homework my child has to do. It benefits them in no way. All they're learning is that reading is boring and frustrating, and that homework stinks!

Why would someone that loves reading assign such homework? Especially when there is heaps of research indicating that time simply spent reading books of their own choosing (a student's choosing) is way more beneficial? Maybe there are a lot of teachers that aren't familiar with this research? But why aren't they familiar with it when books like The Book Whisperer are full of this info? Why aren't teachers who love to read, reading books like The Book Whisperer? And The Read Aloud Handbook?

Formal reading instruction is not my forte. My thing is motivating readers! So it's tough to see my child schlup through their reading homework week after week, obviously not enjoying any of it.

I didn't think I was going to have to worry about this kind of stuff. I thought I would be homeschooling my children. But that's not in the cards for my family right now, and so my task is now to do all that's in my power to show my children that reading is the bomb! And that they will be readers soon! I am all about supporting my children's teachers, but I also have a responsibility as a parent. I'm not saying we won't do the assigned homework (though with the crazy home life we have right now, that often happens), but I will tell my children the truth: that I don't like some of their homework assignment (while also explaining the good intentions the teacher had in assigning it), and that this is not what reading really is. Then I will spend as much time as I can taking them to the library, finding books that will interest them, and setting aside plenty of time at home to read with them. Oh, and being a reading role model too, of course!

How do you encourage a passion for reading as a parent? As a teacher? As a librarian? What books do you think should be required reading for teachers?

Budding Reading Interests

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:37:00 +0000

Since we welcomed two Ethiopian children into our family five months ago, I have been befuddled and unsure of how to get them interested in books. Neither of them can read yet, and our ESL teacher has actually strongly encouraged me not to do formal reading instruction (like phonics) with them till next fall.

Now that they're understanding English better and better each day, I have seen their interest in books start to bud. This is very encouraging to me!

We've been doing bedtime reading since they first came home (I remember my son asking me to read him a grocery store flyer one night when he still didn't understand much English). I also read to them at the lunch table on the weekends from time to time. And I try to read in front of them as much as possible, but there's not much opportunity for that (they keep me hopping).

We visit the library pretty regularly, and I'm excited for us all to participate in the summer reading program. Both my older kids recently got their own library cards and were pretty excited about that. Although, they are still more enthusiastic about checking out movies than they are about checking out the books.

I found a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid at a yard sale and starting reading that aloud to them recently. They are enjoying that, even laughing aloud at it. I just added the movie to our Netflix queue so we can watch it when we finish the book.

We had family come visit last week and my niece brought along a Calvin and Hobbes book. Both kids really liked that. My son especially liked it, even asking me to read it to him when he came home from school one day! (I don't ever get reading requests except at bedtime!) So now we need to go find some Calvin and Hobbes at the library... or maybe the Easter Bunny will deliver some.

Early Literacy Teacher Traning

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Literacy Launchpad) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:36:00 +0000

I was asked to do my first ever teacher training recently! And although I was nervous, I was also thrilled that I was going to be getting out of the house to go contribute to society in a way that had nothing to do with my family (though I did end up referencing my children several times in my talk). I got to dust off some of my wonderful books, pack up my handy-dandy gigantic tote, and spend the morning in a building free of children!

For my first time leading a training like this, I think it went well. There are definitely some things I would like to change up for next time. But I think I motivated and maybe even inspired them a little bit... maybe.

One of the things I had them do was spilt into groups (according to the ages they teach) and brainstorm a literacy activity for one picture book (per group). A lot of their responses were ideas for using their chosen book to teach math or other such concepts. Ugh! This is exactly the kind of mindset I was trying to break them free from.

Why do early childhood teachers think a book always has to be turned into a theme that can be taught in each of their classroom centers? Or that books should be chosen based on the theme of the class' current unit? Is that now a part of getting your teaching degree? I think many of the "literacy" resource books geared toward these teachers are often to blame. It just seems to me that the idea of doing actual emergent literacy teaching with a book is a totally foreign concept. As if simply reading a book during circle time fills the early literacy teaching quota for the day.

Anybody else care to weigh in on this? Do you agree? Disagree?