“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
- Emilie Buchwald
I found this quote and thought how appropriate it was to this chapter. I don't remember being read to as a child, I just remember always reading. I knew that when we had children, that they would be read to all the time. Jeff and I have always read to the kids, even after they could read themselves they still enjoyed (and still do) being read to. Can not imagine not having a love for books and reading. That is why I really liked that this chapter had ideas to bridge the gap from literacy in the classroom to home.
In this chapter it says "But if we get to three parents, we have helped three families and then another and another and another. Each little success must be looked on as a large one, and we go forward from there." As teachers we will have days when we feel that the parents are not "doing their part" in helping their child to succeed. But you can never tell when you will encourage a parent to get more involved.
On page 432 it said that it is important to for family members to just sit with each other with their own book and read. Then said that "Talking about what family members are reading is an important experience as well." I know of a number of families that do this (ours included) and if you start talking while everyone is reading you get hushed. If your students family is starting to have family reading time, having everyone give a brief summary/description of what they are/have read is a great idea.
Something that I want to include in my classroom is the backpack activity. It would be tied to our unit or theme at that time and students and families could "check out" the pack for a few days then they would be ready when the theme changed. Also would like to have parents in at the end of our unit/theme studies. Thinking we would set the classroom up and have booths and students would "guide" their parents around and explain each one. There would also be activities that they would do together.
What strategies or ideas from this chapter do you think you would want to incorporate in your classroom? Were you read to as a child?
I don't specifically remember being read to as a child but my mom often told us stories instead of reading from a book. She would even adapt fairytales and fables like, The Three Little Pigs, to relate more to us and we just thought it was the funnies thing in the world. I think that just listening to stories without a book was really helpful for me still because it really encourage my brother and I to use our imagination to picture what she was telling us and we could adapt the picture as she spoke which engaged us even more. I agree the backpack activity is really great and I love your idea of having students explain to their parents each part of the unit rather than just sending home a wrap up lesson or something. I think a valuable part of a child's education is when they can explain or summarize something to someone else especially a parent. Students get really excited when they think they taught another adult something they didn't know!
ReplyDeleteBrandy, I really liked your post! The quote that you used at the beginning I loved. I do remember being read to when I was a child and those were probably my favorite times. Since I couldn't read on my own much in elementary school so my mother and father would read chapter books and sometimes they would let me try to read a section or two. It was a bit of a struggle having me read but I think it was definitely beneficial. My parents encouraged me to love reading even though I struggled so much with it. I also like the idea of the backpack activity! I think that is an amazing idea, definitely if the student doesn't have the supplies in their own home to help their child's literacy development. I also really like a library check out for books in the classroom. Some families might not be able to have books in their home and letting the students in the classroom check out books that they might have started in the classroom or just really like is great.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you decided to continuously read to your children, even though you might not have had the same experience when you were growing up. I don't really remember how or in what matter, my parents read to me and my brothers when we were growing up. I just remember that they did! My dad is a teacher, my aunt is and my grandpa was, so they all were educated about teaching children but even if they hadn't been I believe we would have still been read to and raised the same way we have and I am really thankful for my parents for that.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important that the parents are involved in their students education but we have to remember that the teachers can not put the whole responsibility on the parents but that we have to teach the children in our classrooms to our best possibilities.
The quote at the start of the post sets the tone for the whole post. Parents are responsible for the success their children have in the classroom. Parents have to help teachers and their children show some interest in school. If a parent is negative at school more than likely the kids will be negative at school. If a parent is positive about it than their kids will be positive about school. So parents need to develop a positive attitude towards school to help their children have success.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I was read to as a child, but I hated it as soon as I learned how to read. And if I was read to, I really wouldn’t pay attention. But I loved reading. I read all the time growing up, and my family went to libraries often. I even remember reading to my little brother before he could read.
ReplyDeleteIt’s important for family members to be involved, and the backpack activity looks like a wonderful activity that I think I would try to incorporate, but I would have to be aware that maybe one or both parents work and won’t be able to help their children with school. Sometimes parents think that they shouldn’t have to, because they send their children to school, so it’s important to explain to parents how important it is to be involved in the education of their child when they are able.