Book for Kids Day

Here in Baltimore, we have a wonderful organization, Baltimore Reads, that hosts Book for Kids Day every spring. Teachers, schools, children, and families benefit from the monetary and book donations made by members of our community. I am asking all of my readers to do one thing to help get books in the hand of a child/family in need. Here are some ideas:

1. Call your local literacy organizations and ask them how you can help.
2. Donate your gently used children's books to a school in a low-income neighborhood. I'm sure there is always a teacher who will be grateful for them.
3. Look for a non-profit or family child care center in your area and ask if they need book donations.
4. Contact a local women and children's shelter and ask them if they are in need of any book donations.
5. Start your own book drive and donate books to a local foster home or other agency in need.

Product Give Away:

Comment below to tell us what you are doing to help  children in your community get access to books. A random winner will be selected to win two sets of Counting Cards from Child Up.

 and

Literacy Challenges of At-Risk Boys: Does SES matter?

According to a 2010 study, boys lag behind on standardized reading tests by as much as 10 percentage points. Because we know that reading skills are strongly linked to overall school success, we must not ignore this alarming trend. Some experts suggest that girls and boys are just wired differently with boys being more visually oriented and more responsive to physical activity. But there are many things that parents and teachers can do to encourage literacy development in boys.

Now consider this: In some states, as many of 20-30% of children are living in poverty. Poverty is one factor that potentially places children at risk for academic difficulty and/or failure. Children living in poverty may:

• have limited time with adults (because they are working or because there is only one adult in the household);
• live in dangerous neighborhoods;
• have parents with limited education;
• not have role models who read or value education;
• have little awareness of or access to community resources (like libraries);
• attend low-achieving schools with few resources;
• not have access to books in the home because of the family's financial limitations; and/or
• be more likely to experience difficulties such as abuse, neglect, homelessness, unstable households, or violence.

One of the keys to getting out of poverty is a good education and boys living in low-income situations have two hurdles to overcome if there is any hope to break the cycle. So what are the answers? I don't have a magic wand or a crystal ball. I also don't have the money to fund the programs that I think our boys need. But I do have a voice and I hope to spread the word. Here are some ideas that I think will help:

• Libraries in low-income neighborhoods should continue to reach out to the community and provide some programs geared directly to boys. This may mean having more magazines and comic books in the children's areas. Keep in mind that there are differing opinions when it comes to the topics that interest boys.
• Mentoring and after-school programs that cater to youth should provide reading and literacy opportunites that are specific to the interest of boys.
• Schools and libraries in low-income areas can partner to help families understand the resources that are available.
• Schools in low-income neighborhoods should try (when funds are available) to ensure that school libraries have books that boys will enjoy (comics, magazines, non-fiction books, graphic novels, audio books, etc).
• I know in these times of school accountability and standardized testing, it's hard for teachers to tailor lesson plans and activities to the needs of their students. But when possible, teachers should provide boys with books that will interest them. They should consider that boys learn differently and allow more active learning and movement during reading activities.
• Schools and Child Care Programs in low-income areas should connect with the families and provide parent education programs and parent tutoring programs. Parents may not understand the value of reading to children. They may also have limited reading skills themselves so they may need literacy training.
• Encourage boys to read  books that have been made into movies. One expert suggests that reading books AFTER seeing the movie may gain boys' interests and may aid in their comprehension of the story.
• States should provide additional training for child care teachers on the importance of literacy. The early learning years are crucial and sometimes by the time children reach kindergarten, they are already lagging in necessary language and literacy skills.
• Schools and  teachers in at-risk areas can look for mentors and mentoring programs that may provide male volunteers to read to the class on a regular basis.
• Alter (but NOT lower) expectations for boys when it comes to reading. Boys may need to read in shorter intervals. They may need to be more active while reading. They may not want to sit at a desk and read. Be flexible whenever possible.
• Search for valuable computer language/literacy programs and games. Boys are usually more active learners and technology can be used to encourage literacy skills.
• Find local organizations (in our area we have Baltimore Reads) that support literacy. Baltimore Reads also has a book bank that provides free books to schools and to families. They also have literacy training for adults.
• Schools and Early Childhood Programs working with at-risk populations should seek out organizations that focus on boys and reading such as:
• Guys Read
• Boys Read
• Getting Boys To Read
• Michael and Mechelle Epps Foundation
• Boys Life Reading Contest (deadline 12/31/11)
• Reading Rockets
• Recognize that many of the children living in poverty are minorities so seek out resources that will be helpful to children and families:
• Brown Baby Reads
• National African American Read In Day
• Love to Read: Essays in Developing and Enhancing Early Literacy Skills of African American Children
• Preventing Reading Difficulties in At-Risk Children

What are your communities doing to address the specific needs of at-risk learners?

What reading programs or other resources do you know of that cater to the interest of boys?

Let's create a list of organizations and resources that will be helpful to other parents, teachers, educators, and leaders.

Multiculturalism: A Right, a Responsibility, or a Requirement?

Photo by Tina Phillips

The last time I derailed from my usual topic of early literacy, was when I ranted about crib bumpers. Every now and then, something gets me hot under the collar, and this is another one of those times.

The state of Colorado recently proposed a list of requirements for child care centers such as prohibiting whole milk, regulating how much juice children are offered, mandating how often snacks are provided, and one that even requires child care providers to wear clothing that covers their laps and shoulders. One of the most controversial (judging by the online responses) proposals would require child care programs to provide dolls of at least three different races. It seems that some child care providers in Colorado are not pleased with the new mandates.

One center owner said, "I think we're going a little to [sic] far. We're not giving parents a choice.We're not giving children a choice. We're not giving caregivers a choice." [In fairness, the news story doesn't make it clear if she is referring specifically to the doll requirement or all of the proposed requirements.] Another said, "requiring dolls of at least three different races seems a bit silly (why not transgender or handicapped dolls too, while they're at it)?" On the contrary, I think having dolls of different races, IS giving children a choice. And most high-quality and/or NAEYC accredited programs actually do have dolls and puppets that are handicapped. Transgender dolls (if they even exist) are, in my opinion, not relevant to this topic (apples and oranges) and may be an issue for another blog post on another day.

Many of the comments on the various websites are surprising, and quite sad to me. I'm not going to get into the politics of whether or not the government is infringing on rights. This is not the time or blog space for political arguments. I will say this: I find it sad that people would fight against something that most educators know has significant social-emotional value for children. Personally, I might be more upset about not being able to wear a sleeveless shirt than I would be about providing children with dolls, but, hey, that's just me!

I also hope that the state of Colorado isn't so narrow-minded as to believe that simply requiring dolls of different races means that a child care program is "culturally sensitive." While I strongly believe that children should have dolls that reflects society, merely putting dolls in the classroom is not sufficient. Are educators choosing dolls that have the same features but are just different skin colors? Are all of the dolls selected racially sensitive or stereotypical? Do teachers have an understanding of how to implement ethnic sensitivity in their day to day classroom practices? Do teachers provide books, posters, and other equipment (not just dolls) that reflect our society?

To me, the issue is bigger than just having three ethnically different dolls. Most responsible educators would have multiracial dolls in their classroom, regardless of the state's requirement. This blog post could go on for another five paragraphs but instead, I'll turn it over to you guys to share your thoughts on the issue. What do you think about Colorado's proposal to require dolls of at least three different races?

I'm Singing Baby Beluga While Talking on My Bananaphone...

A 140 character tweet was not enough to express my excitement about finding Raffi on Twitter (@Raffi_RC)! When I taught kindergarten and pre-kindergarten, Raffi, Ella Jenkins, and Hap Palmer were my lifesavers!! It seemed that not a day went by without one of these musical geniuses playing in my classroom. As an adult, I didn't even know what a beluga whale was before Raffi told me. My kindergarten class wanted to know more about belugas, so we did an entire unit on the "little white whale on the go" just because of Raffi. We learned vowels by eating Apples and Bananas. When the kids got antsy, we would  "shake our sillies out". Raffi was the second teacher in my classroom, and he didn't even know it!

What warms my heart even more, is finding out that Raffi is more than a educator and musician. He's an advocate for children, an advocate for childhood, and an advocate for humanity. As a teacher, I appreciated Raffi for what he was able to teach me and my students. Now, as a manager of an early childhood program, I am able to connect with Raffi on another level. I am tearing up as I'm writing this...I'm happy to know that the children of the world have advocates like Raffi.

Dear Raffi,
Thank you.
One light, one sun...


Raffi Facts from Raffi News:

• "Because of his belief that children should not be exposed to too much television viewing and that they should not be directly marketed to, during his thirty-year career as a superstar of kid’s music Raffi refused all offers for commercial television shows and commercial endorsements."
• "After years of networking and reflecting on what it might take to create a world fit for children, in 2010, Raffi founded the Centre for Child Honouring on Salt Spring Island."
• "An estimated 10 million kids who grew up with Baby Beluga now sing it to their own kids."  

Some of my favorite Raffi albums:

 


Reading Raffi:

Affordable Child Care ... a CRAZY social program?

Tonight I decided to relax and polish my nails after a long hard week...but then somehow I found myself browsing around on Google News. I read a story about a preschool program called the Early Childhood Inititive in Ohio having to close because of funding, or lackthereof. So I am putting away the nail polish and getting out the proverbial "pen."

As I read the article, I felt sympathy for those parents who are struggling financially who now have no child care. What about the single mother who has a minimum wage job and manages to pay her rent, utilities, clothe and feed the chidlren, and has no money left to pay for quality childcare? How is this mother supposed to go to work to continue to support her family if there aren't programs like the Early Learning Intiative? No child care for many single parents means NO WORK.

And then I read this quote and I felt my feelings of sympathy being overcome by anger:

Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn is all for the [budget] cut. "We've got to stop the craziness of all these social programs," he said. "They're breaking us. We have got to send a message to people that you've got to have responsibility for your kids and your family and doing good by yourself," said Kilburn.

WOW! WOW! WOW!

Will we, as a nation, ever grow up and realize that it really does take a village to raise a child? Many other countries are so far ahead of us in providing free or low cost quality programs for children.

Research shows that programs like ELI are succussful and beneficial for children and families. I certainly don't think that such programs will solve all of the woes in our society. But it's foolish of us not to consider the profound effects that quality PreK programs can have on children, especially children who may be potentially at-risk. Pre-K Now describes Ohio's efforts to put early childhood at the forefront; now it seems that they may be taking a couple of steps backwards.

How is your state doing?