SEASON'S READINGS

It's that time of the year again when family is knitted together with love, the perfect time to share things like books together as a family.

To foster a love for reading in children- you need to be a good role model, sneak ten minutes of reading into your day. Take a story time break and regale your children with stories you heard as a child- this will give you and your children ample bonding time.

Christmas is filled with stories, you can illustrate one with your child/children all you need are some crayons and plenty of paper.

You and your child can read aloud recipe's as you prepare to bake your Christmas cake.

Red, Green and Gold are the colours of the season, make a Christmas decoration using these colours/ paint a picture using these colours.

If you have any family traditions- take out time to explain them to your children- talking is an integral aspect of getting to read especially for toddlers and preschoolers/

Buy books as gifts for your children, let them read about our different cultures celebrate Christmas. Books will open up a new perspective on the season for your child.

Encourage your child to be creative and let he/she tell/paint/write you a christmas story, you can either record the story and play it for your family next Christmas or you can frame the painting/bind the writing and share it with your family next Christmas.


The season is all about love- make it a memorable one for your children.

BEDTIME ROUTINES AND READING REALLY MATTER

How many Nigerian Parents read to their children at bed time?

There's no substitute for Parents modeling a pattern of reading for their children. It generates a genuine love for reading in the children.

Read the article below culled from the booktrust website.

Research published by University College London (UCL) shows that children often suffer behavioural difficulties if they have erratic bedtimes - displaying symptoms similar to jetlag.



The research was based on analysis of data from more than 10,000 children collected by the Millennium Cohort Study, with bedtimes noted at ages three, five and seven, and information on behaviour collected from parents and teachers. Three-year-olds were the most likely to have erratic bedtimes, with one in five children going to bed at varying times.



The study found that those youngsters who experienced erratic bedtimes throughout childhood displayed progressively worse behaviour. But those children who went from varying bedtimes aged three or five to a regular bedtime by age seven displayed a notable improvement in behaviour. Children whose bedtimes were irregular or who went to bed after 9pm came from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds and they were more likely to have poor routines such as skipping breakfast, not being read to daily, having a TV in their bedroom and spending longer in front of a TV than children with earlier bedtimes.

THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS EVERY CHILD NEEDS

Below is a list of the Seven Essential Life Skills and the selected books, by age group, that connect to each Skill. - See more at: http://www.fbmarketplace.org/mitm#sthash.jDsaxJXe.dpuf



FOCUS & SELF-CONTROL

Children need this skill in order to achieve their goals, especially in a world that is filled with distraction and information overload. It involves paying attention, remembering the rules, thinking flexibly and exercising self-control.

AGES 0 TO 2: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Elmo Says…
AGES 3 TO 5: The Carrot Seed and Whistle for Willie
AGES 6 TO 8: The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza and The Art Lesson

PERSPECTIVE TAKING

Perspective goes far beyond empathy: it involves figuring out what others think and feel, and forms the basis of children understanding their parents’, teachers’, and friends’ intentions. Children who can take others’ perspectives are also much less likely to get involved in conflicts.

AGES 0 TO 2: Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? (Coming soon!) and Five Little Ducks
AGES 3 TO 5: Fish is Fish and Are You Ready to Play Outside? (Coming soon!)
AGES 6 TO 8: Freedom Summer and Actual Size

COMMUNICATING

Communicating is much more than understanding language, speaking, reading and writing – it is the skill of determining what one wants to communicate and realizing how our communications will be understood by others. It is the skill that teachers and employers feel is most lacking today.

AGES 0 TO 2: Baby! Talk! and Moo, Baa, La La La!
AGES 3 TO 5: The Cow That Went Oink and The Lion and the Mouse
AGES 6 TO 8: Martin's Big Words and The Storyteller’s Candle

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Making connections is at the heart of learning—figuring out what’s the same, what’s different and sorting these things into categories. Making unusual connections is at the core of creativity. In a world where people can Google for information, it is the people who can see the connections who can go beyond knowing information to using this information well.

AGES 0 TO 2: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (bilingual)
AGES 3 TO 5: Caps for Sale and Harold and the Purple Crayon
AGES 6 TO 8: I Am Different! Can you Find Me? and On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World's Weather

CRITICAL THINKING

Critical thinking is the ongoing search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide beliefs, decisions, and actions.

AGES 0 TO 2: Blue Hat Green Hat and The Runaway Bunny
AGES 3 TO 5: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Are You My Mother? (Coming soon!)
AGES 6 TO 8: Grace for President and Nate the Great

TAKING ON CHALLENGES

Life is full of stresses and challenges. Children who are willing to take on challenges (instead of avoiding them or simply coping with them) do better in school and in life.

AGES 0 TO 2: Llama, Llama Red Pajama and My Truck is Stuck
AGES 3 TO 5: Owen and The Little Engine that Could
AGES 6 TO 8: Knuffle Bunny and Horton Hears a Who

SELF-DIRECTED, ENGAGED LEARNING

It is through learning that we can realize our potential. As the world changes, so can we, for as long as we live—as long as we learn.

AGES 0 TO 2: From Head to Toe and Where's Spot?
AGES 3 TO 5: My Five Senses and The Snowy Day
AGES 6 TO 8: Lemonade in Winter and Dinosaurs Before Dark

- See more at: http://www.fbmarketplace.org/mitm#sthash.jDsaxJXe.dpuf

ANOTHER REASON TO KEEP READING...

Readers of literary fiction are more creative and exercise better judgment, claim scientists




Research from the University of Toronto found that people who had just read a short story were able to think less rigidly and were more comfortable with disorder and uncertainty
People who are regular readers also appeared to be more creative thinkers and less prone to snap judgements
The study suggested reading literary fiction is a way to become more open-minded

By Alex Greig

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2342635/Readers-literary-fiction-better-thinkers-according-new-research.html#ixzz2WbwMXaC7
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PICTURE BOOKS AID READING

Children learn to read after being captivated by pictures, Sir Quentin Blake has said, as he argues no-one should be compelled to try heavy texts too young.

Sir Quentin, the former children's laureate, said he had been put off reading temporarily after attempting to tackle challenging books too young.

He added children enthralled by pictures would then naturally move on to Dickens at an "appropriate age".

I am all for Sir Quentin Blake's comment- heavy texts are a total put off for some children, they can scare young children from reading while pictures ignite an hunger that only reading can satisfy.

Support Picture books today to aid Early Child Learning Development.

1 MAJOR REASON WHY YOUR CHILD IS NOT READING.

People complain that there's a decline in reading, the article below captures one of the major reasons, succinctly! I bid you to please read.



A Mother's Gift
---------------

I've written editorials around holidays before, but never on
Mother's Day. Since I am not a parent, Mother's Day generally
means remembering to send a card and/or flowers to my
mother-in-law. Rarely do I reflect upon what it means to me
"personally."

This year, however, as my mother-in-law is turning 90, we began a
family discussion of her many contributions to her family over
almost a century. One of the topics my husband raised was the ways
in which she encouraged his love of history and archaeology. And
that got me thinking about what may have been one of the best gifts
my mother gave me: The love of reading.

In fact, my mother was the person who TAUGHT me how to read. I'm
not sure why she decided that this shouldn't be left in the hands
of mere schools, but when I was about five, she set in with
flashcards and the first "Dick and Jane" book. When I'd mastered
that, she was able to get two more "Dick and Jane" books from the
school, and from there... well, from there, I don't suppose I ever
looked back.

But my love of reading didn't come from flashcards. (In fact, I
think I pretty much hated the flashcards!) It came from being a
part of a family where books were considered not just a normal but
an indispensable part of life. We had books everywhere, in every
room -- including the bathroom, where, perhaps unwisely, my father
actually installed a built-in bookshelf. This was stocked with a
selection of lurid mysteries and even more lurid true-crime tales.
I, of course, was forbidden to read such inappropriate material,
and of COURSE I obeyed... (Actually, I soon learned to go in
clutching an "authorized" book, e.g., something like Dr. Dolittle,
which would quickly be set aside as I perused the more intriguing
fare on the shelves. And I wonder why I gravitate toward shows
like "Forensic Files" today...)

Everyone in the family read, and read constantly. As a child, my
greatest desire was to be initiated into this fellowship of
readers. I knew what was IN books, because my mother read to me.
That was nice, but I wanted to be able to read to myself, to follow
a tale at my own pace and not have to wait until someone was free
to read the next chapter.

When I was four or so, I caused much amusement when I located a
discarded mystery novel in a box of books in the attic. It caught
my eye because it had something on the cover that I recognized: A
rasp, a tool my father used often. (The book was Philip
MacDonald's "The Rasp," which I managed to locate and actually READ
some 40 years later...) This became "my" book, and I carried it
with me everywhere. It was just the right size to fit in a
bathrobe pocket, this being the day when pocket books really did
fit into pockets. Carrying a book around like everyone else truly
made me feel like one of the "big people."

The point was, my family didn't turn me into a reader by insisting
that I read, or forcing books on me, or telling me what a good idea
it was to read or how much I'd enjoy it or that it was "good for
me." My family turned me into a reader by, simply, reading. I
watched the avidness with which everyone around me devoured books,
the joy they experienced in getting new books for Christmas and
birthdays, the pleasure they obviously took in being able to settle
down in a comfortable chair in the evening and read. (We had a
weekend cabin with no TV, which may have helped...) This was
clearly a major source of family fun, and I wanted to be able to
enjoy it too.

Today, we are given endless, gloomy statistics and factoids about
the decline of reading in children. We are also given endless
explanations for why fewer and fewer children are interested in
reading, with television and video games generally topping the
list. Meanwhile, child "experts" of every ilk weigh in on what
children ought to read, want to read, shouldn't read, won't read,
and so forth. I can recall reading many "expert" articles in
writing magazines declaring that "today's" children (which,
admittedly, are yesterday's children now) were too "sophisticated"
for fantasy stories. Today's children knew that magic wasn't real,
so of course they couldn't possibly be interested in reading about
something so "fanciful" -- give them stories of divorce and blended
families and diversity and bullies and all those other issues that
are so much more "relevant" than fairies and wizards. Then "Harry
Potter" came along and... wow, suddenly children started reading
again! (It must have been the dysfunctional families, diversity,
and bullies that did the trick...)

Well, I've already pointed out that I don't have children, so I do
not claim to be an expert of any sort. But I DO remember my own
childhood, and I do have a theory. I suspect that one reason
children's reading levels are declining is the same reason that ALL
reading levels are declining: More and more adults consider
themselves "too busy" to read. Even adults who love reading may
feel that they don't have much time for it anymore. Our time is
increasingly consumed by all the things we "must" do to keep up --
checking e-mail, surfing the web, catching up on the day's work
during the evening, getting ready for the next day's work. I
suspect that, for many parents, "reading" is a luxury that they
feel they can no longer afford.

Perhaps it's time to take a step back and start asking, not why
kids "don't read," but why kids do ANYTHING. One reason is to be
like Mom and Dad. When I was four and carrying around "The Rasp"
in my bathrobe pocket, that was my goal -- to be like everyone else
in the family. When I was five, my goal was to be able to share in
an activity that was clearly a major source of pleasure for
everyone else. By the time I hit the teen rebellion and wanted to
be NOTHING like Mom or Dad, it was too late; I simply showed my
rebellion by choosing DIFFERENT BOOKS.

The gift my mother gave me wasn't simply teaching me how to read.
A teacher would have done that, eventually. Her gift was teaching
me WHY to read. It was demonstrating that this was perhaps the
most wonderful way that one could spend one's time -- that I would
love reading because reading was something to be loved.

Perhaps, if more parents recall this lesson from their own
childhood, they'll find that reading time isn't an unaffordable
luxury, but an indispensable necessity. And, quite possibly, one
of the best gifts they can ever give.



Moira Allen is the editor of Writing-World.com (http://www.writing-world.com) and the author of more than 350 published articles. Her books on writing include Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer, The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals, and Writing to Win: The Colossal Guide to Writing Contests.
http://www.writing-world.com/coffee/coffee63.shtml

IMPORTANCE OF PRESCHOOLS

To cut crime, raise education and income levels, and reduce addiction rates among the poor, no program offers more bang for the buck than preschool, as a new study published in Science demonstrates.

The long-term study followed 1,539 children born in 1979-80. They lived in the lowest-income neighborhoods of Chicago, where nearly 40% of residents live below the poverty line; most of the children were African American.

More than 950 of the families in the study participated in Chicago's Child-Parent Center Education Program, the second oldest federally funded preschool program in the country, which focuses on school-readiness, including listening skills and math and reading preparation. The kids who attended preschool started at age 3-4. Their parents were actively involved in the program. The rest of the kids in the study did not attend preschool but participated in full-day kindergarten.

After tracking the children to age 28, researchers found that those who had attended preschool were 28% less likely to develop alcohol or other drug problems or to wind up in jail or prison in adulthood, compared with kids who did not go to preschool. What's more, their odds of being arrested for a felony were cut by 22% and they were 24% more likely to attend a four-year college. Incomes in adulthood of those who attended preschool ere also higher than those for the children who did not.

"We don't see these kind of results from routine programs implemented on a large scale," says lead author Arthur Reynolds, director of the Chicago Longitudinal Study, which has now followed these children for more a quarter century.

"Just funding preschool doesn't mean it's going to be effective," he adds. "You have to follow the principles of quality."

That means having qualified teachers and providing a structured but nurturing environment. In addition to the quality of the program itself, another reason the Chicago preschools may have had such a large impact is that they helped parents feel that they were part of a community and kept them involved with their children's school. This cut the number of parents who frequently moved their children from one school to another by half.

"School mobility is associated with dropout and other problem behavior," says Reynolds. "These children experienced fewer transitions. The families were more satisfied and less likely to change schools. Another mechanism is that stability and predictability in the learning [environment is] a key feature in positive child development outcomes."

"It's kind of like a chain reaction," he says. "The cognitive advantage and family support leads to a later advantage in terms of school commitment and ultimately, these kids don't get involved in the justice system."

The biggest positive effects were seen in boys and in the children of the least educated parents. Reynolds says that because boys are generally less prepared to start school than girls are, the early intervention gives them a particular advantage. Likewise, children of less educated parents are more likely to benefit from the enriched cognitive environment of preschool.

Funding preschool — as well as other early intervention programs like the Nurse Family Partnership, which starts working with mothers during pregnancy — isn't especially sexy and doesn't get voters excited the way "cracking down on crime," does. But if results are what we want, preschool wins.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/09/how-to-cut-crime-alcoholism-and-addiction-its-not-elementary-but-preschool/#ixzz1UF8fg500