read – From Hedge Funds to High Chairs

Today, March 2nd, 2010 is Read Across America Day! According to Education.com more than 45 million people are expected to participate. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to make reading fun. Education.com has provided some great ways to celebrate reading and Dr. Suess’s birthday! There are reading activities, crafts and ideas for parents here http://www.education.com/seasonal/read-across-america/?cid=90.002

Here are five great ideas from Education.com:

Pump Up the Poetry: Want to give poetry a modern bent? Get kids to launch a poetry slam. Especially for older elementary and middle school students, slams toss rhyme off the page and make it come alive.
Cozy Up with Books: Invite a bunch of kids to a pajama party and ask them to bring their favorite book. Pop up some popcorn and ignore the usual bedtime. Share stories around the circle, getting each kid to read, or ask their parent to read for them. Give away some flashlights for some under-the-blanket reading once it’s time for lights out.
Recruit Local Heroes: Get children to contact their local sports teams, mayor, or other heroes and ask them to come on over for a Read-athon. Seeing people they admire reading helps make it seem cool.
Break Some Records: Give your child a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records and challenge him to break a reading record himself! Whether it’s with a group of friends or flying solo, records are made to be broken!
Hats Off: Read Across America is celebrated on Dr. Seuss’s birthday because he’s the most read children’s author of all time. Celebrate Seuss in style by reading a selection of his books and creating some stovepipe hats. Hats are easy to make using a coffee can with a paper plate taped on to make the brim. Just cover in paper, paint on some white and red stripes, and kids are good to go! http://www.education.com/magazine/article/America_Hosts_Reading_Party/

There is an adorable Dr. Suess Readers Oath and certificate available to review and encourage your kids http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/readers-oath/

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/seussation-certificate/

Enjoy the day and READ, READ, READ!

I am a big proponent of reading to your children. I have listed some studies on the subject to emphasize the importance.

(Carey, 1978) Estimated that pre-school age children acquire 5 new words each day. That’s 10,000 by the age of six.*
(Anderson, Heilbert, Scott and Wilkenson, 1985) Found reading aloud is the single most important activity for building the knowledge needed in reading.*
(Schickendanz. 1999) Discusses the strong relationship between language development in the early years and reading later on.*

*Studies quoted were sourced from the following paper: Teacher’s Use of Interactive Read Alouds Using Nonfiction in Early Childhood Classrooms http://www.cluteinstitute-onlinejournals.com/PDFs/1601.pdf

One of my Subject Matter Experts and Mom of Three recommended ‘Big Words for Little People’ by Jaime Lee Curtis as a favorite of her kids. This book can also help boost vocabulary as it is full of big words!

The book teaches children big words like patience, cooperate, persevere and respect. It’s a fun way to incorporate new words into your child’s rapidly growing vocab.

Remember – Make it a habit! Read to your children every night!!

Parents should evaluate the appropriateness of any product in their own child’s situation. Please feel free to check the consumer product safety commision (http://www.cpsc.gov/) or with other groups that test the safey of children’s products.

Tag: read

Read Across America Day – March 2nd

Must Have Monday – Book Recommendation