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literacy
It helps literacy and emotional growth, but that's not all, a new survey reveals.
We need a cultural shift among educators and schools that a family-centred approach is key to successful literacy.
The teacher may say that their reading and spelling are fine, but if you sense that they're not, you may be right.
While we may not have the same incarceration numbers, private prisons or overt existence of a prison pipeline, Canada has seen an increase in incarceration over the last decade, and this population continues to be over-represented by black, brown and Latino youth. This highlights a need for open discussion.
In my classroom, there were a few precious books available in my local language. Those stories profoundly touched my heart, and I loved reading time at primary school. Children love stories, you see. Stories are the virtual window to their world of fantasy and reality. Children do not want to read just any story book, but story books that are engaging and connecting to their passionate souls.
We've settled into 2017 and, despite starting the year off with good intentions, many of our New Year's resolutions have likely fallen by the wayside. However, even if you only stick to one resolution this year, pledge to make reading a year-long commitment for your family.
Among the groups that I saw at the Toronto march was a contingent of elementary school teachers. As most people know, the great majority of elementary school teachers everywhere are women. As women, they have experienced more than their fair share of discrimination, pay inequity, and even violence in the workplace. But should teachers have the right to protest and then to bring their views and opinions into their classrooms? It might depend on the views and how they are expressed.
Four months ago, I began teaching inmates in two of Ontario's maximum security jails. The experience has taught me a lot in a very short amount of time. I'm learning about an alternative universe that exists in parallel to mine. I'm accessing a dimension which is completely divergent from the one I was born into, and I'm still trying to digest it all.
Thursday is International Literacy Day, a chance to celebrate the power of reading in children's lives. If you're a book-lover yourself, you may remember curling up with your latest childhood treasure (it was Anne of Green Gables for me!)
