Today is Encourage a Young Writer Day. What do you do to encourage your child to write? Here are 10 ideas you can use any day of the year:
Ask your child to write a review of a book he or she enjoyed reading.
Teach your children to write thank you notes every time they receive a gift.
Encourage your child to write and illustrate his or her own book.
Search together for writing contests for kids.
Suggest that your child write a snail mail letter to a friend, near or far.
Encourage your child to write a short play and act it out for the family.
Teach your child how to write a haiku for fun.
Give your child a topic and challenge him or her to write a story (i,e. “The funniest thing I ever saw was” or “If I could do anything at all I would…”
Encourage your child to write a letter to a local politician or newspaper editor about a subject he or she is passionate about.
Ask your child to write a nice thank you note to his or her teacher at the end of the school year.
According to an interesting USA Today article, children’s books about animals and nature on the decline. What a shame.
Did you know that the rhinoceros beetle can carry 850 times its weight on its back? The thousands of students who have attended a Lilly Badilly presentation know that!
As an advocate of geography education, the world needs more books about nature and stories about far away places with unusual plants and animals. Children love to hold a book in their laps and learn about the world. Fortunately with my post as a book reviewer for Good Reads with Ronna, I get to read some really excellent books about plants and animals. Although I am not sure why there are less books on these subjects for children these days, I refuse to believe they aren’t needed. What do you think?
As a children’s book author, I am well aware of how budget cuts affect reading programs. Yesterday, I received a phone call from my 5- year-old nephew, who told me that the parents of his fellow students had to bring a large amount of school supplies for the teacher and the students on his first day of kindergarten; there is no money in the New York City budget for that any longer. He also asked me if I would sew new bench cushions for his classroom, because the old ones are falling apart, and there is no way the teacher can replace them. (Of course I said yes!)
Read this article about NYC public schools budget cuts and supply lists parents are getting.
http://www.webweaver.nu
Steep public school budget cuts affect all of us:
Quality teachers cannot get adequately paid and therefore will not want to take jobs in the public school system
Future would-be teachers will not want to pursue careers without adequate pay
Students and their parents who cannot afford to buy supplies are singled out
Schools in low income neighborhoods really suffer (ALL children deserve a quality education)
Program cuts = learning cuts
Electives such as performing arts are the first to get cut
Budget cuts mean less teachers and larger classes (less individual attention for each student)
Budget cuts mean less textbooks
Is this the way of the future for America’s public school system? I certainly hope not. What can we do about it?
Some time ago I wrote a blog article about college admissions, after experiencing the stress of the process with my daughter’s applications. There’s an article in the NY Times today you must read called Study Finds Family Connections Give Big Advantage in College Admissions. Read it here. The truth about who is getting into our top colleges must be revealed! This article is a good start.
Debbie Glade is the author of the award-winning children’s book/CD The Travel Adventures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa Rica. She visits South Florida schools with her reading and writing programs and has been a freelance writer since 1988. Her publishing company sponsors and judges writing contests. She is a book reviewer for LA Parent Magazine and a travel editor on www.wanderingeducators.com. She blogs daily on www.smartpoodlepublishing.com/blog, where you’ll find her weekly comic strip. Her credentials include a BA in Writing from Florida State University.
In addition to working with children, Debbie is very familiar with the grueling college application process, as her own daughter is now a freshman at an Ivy League University. She has helped countless students of all ages with their writing challenges and does so with humor, taking the frustration out of the reading and writing process.
National Geographic has announced a new contest for teachers and classrooms. Your class picks a theme to save water, energy or make less waste. Then you take action and do a proposal to help change your school. All the details are right here on the official website. There’s an online entry form for teachers, and the deadline is December 3, 2010. Click here for the prizes.
This morning I sat in a Starbucks, drinking iced tea (and trying to ignore a loud, obnoxious man sitting near me) while reviewing a book about Teddy Roosevelt for LA Parent Magazine. Roosevelt’s life was fascinating – his passions, ideals, tragedies and triumphs. I really got into reading about him when it suddenly hit me that there’s so much to learn about everything. No matter how many books I read, how much research I do, there’s an infinite amount of intriguing facts I just don’t know, but desperately want to know.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com
A person could spend two lifetimes just becoming an expert on US Presidents alone. But I cannot focus on just one thing. There are too many fascinating subjects. For instance, I’d love to be an entomologist and study insects in detail. Or a forensic scientist and solve crimes using DNA. Of course I want to know all about the world – people, places, cultures, natural wonders and mysteries yet to be solved. And I long to discover facts about famous artists, scientists, writers and successful business people. And the list goes on.
Until I can figure out how to get an endless amount of knowledge into my brain, I’ll keep absorbing as much information as possible about any and everything I can get my hands on.
