https://www.readingrockets.org/feeds/sounditout.xml Along with her background as a professor, researcher, writer, and teacher, Joanne Meier is a mom. Join Joanne every week as she shares her experiences raising her own young readers, and guides parents and teachers on the best practices in reading. en https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/kids-and-educational-media A new report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center provides new insight into young children's (ages 2-10) use of educational media at home. For the purposes of this study, educational media is identified as content that "is good for your child's learning or growth, or that teaches some type of lesson, such as an academic or social skill." Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:00 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/kids-and-educational-media https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/top-5-ways-make-best-snow-days Those of us on the east coast are bracing for (yet another!) winter storm that promises to close schools for several days and leave parents at home with wet gloves and bored kids! Here are a few suggestions for sprinkling some reading and writing in-between sled rides. Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:00 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/top-5-ways-make-best-snow-days https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/preschool-news President Obama's 2014 State of the Union speech put preschool in the spotlight. Obama challenged Congress to build on programs that exist in 30 states to provide high-quality preschool for every child. "Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a child's life is high-quality early education," he said. Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:15 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/preschool-news https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/working-through-online-issues I shouldn't be surprised — but I am — by some of the online issues we're facing around our house. I'm wondering if any of you have faced these questions, and how you're handling them? Please comment in to let me know! Thu, 16 Jan 2014 14:45 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/working-through-online-issues https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/can-teaching-grammar-benefit-reading-comprehension Is there a relationship between grammar and reading comprehension? Yes, says Timothy Shanahan on Shanahan on Literacy. In summarizing the research, Shanahan suggests "as students learn to employ more complex sentences in their oral and written language, their ability to make sense of what they read increases, too." Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:15 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/can-teaching-grammar-benefit-reading-comprehension https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/dont-forget-book-bed This is our family’s fourth year for "a book on every bed," and it's one part of my shopping that I really look forward to! Three years ago, the Family Reading Partnership and Ask Amy from the Chicago Tribune launched a homegrown, grassroots literacy campaign with a goal to raise a generation of readers. Thu, 19 Dec 2013 19:45 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/dont-forget-book-bed https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/making-list-check-these-twice If you're like me, you're scurrying around looking for the perfect gift for a child in your life. Below are some helpful gift suggestion lists I've come across. Maybe you'll find just what you were looking for! A treasure trove of resources from Jen Robinson's Growing Bookworms Newsletter. Be sure to look through the links she shared on Twitter. Lots and lots of book suggestions! Parents' Choice offers children's media and toy reviews, which are sortable by age, price, and award. Sun, 08 Dec 2013 12:30 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/making-list-check-these-twice https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/power-books-and-text-sets We've all read books whose plot or main character stay with us for a long time. With kids, books can be a great and subtle way to illustrate personality traits we may want to engender. Collections of books with similar themes (sometimes called "text sets") give teachers and parents a way to focus on a theme but do so in such a way that you're not beating your kid over the head with the same message over and over again. Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:00 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/power-books-and-text-sets https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/much-ado-about-media Screen time for young kids has been in the news a lot lately. The last few days of October gave us two new resources on the topic of children's media use. First, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new guidance on managing children's and adolescents' media use. Access to the new policy requires a subscription to the American Academy of Pediatrics, but the press release provides a glimpse into the thinking: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:00 EST Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/much-ado-about-media https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/six-words-can-say-so-much As LD Awareness month winds down, I want to share a few words (literally!) with you. They come from the 6 Word Parent Story contest that the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) ran earlier this month. NCLD received over 1,400 entries from parents of kids with learning differences. Thu, 24 Oct 2013 01:30 EDT Dr. Joanne Meier https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sound-it-out/six-words-can-say-so-much