Image credit www. Book-Clipart.com
Remember my post re: creating a home learning environment? In it, I shared paragraphs from one of my back-to-school feature stories published in a local paper. I also glossed over what the local elementary school principals said on the topic.
Being as this is SlowBurbs.com–and we’ve got readers readying kiddos to learn in all sorts of school settings, I decided to go back and share relevant snippets:
“Students do their best when they get a good night’s sleep and start the day with a nourishing breakfast,” said Maricia Gregory, Julia Newton Aue Elementary principal. “In the evenings [during the school year], an established routine that provides time for the completion of homework and a time for the family to read for pleasure brings perfect closure to the day. Habits like these, established at an early age, will benefit children for the rest of their lives.”
From another principal:
“Developing the habit of reading a book together each night is such a wonderful part of childhood,” said Dodge-Clay. “There is a book that I just ordered for all of my fourth grade teachers that I learned about this summer while visiting my sister who is a teacher in Nebraska. The title of the book is ‘The Reading Promise’ by Alice Ozma. It is a tribute to her father who shared his love of reading with her by promising to read aloud to her–she was in fourth grade at the time–at least 10 minutes a night. The book has a bibliography of classical and current literature that they shared. The recommended list is full of wonderful pieces of literature. I love the idea that read-alouds do not need to stop in first and second grade.”
More from Dodge-Clay:
“My son is entering 9th grade next year and I am seriously thinking about starting up a read aloud ritual this next school year,” said Dodge-Clay. “It is a calming way to end the day and a great way to have some conversations about vocabulary. The challenge is to be consistent and to make it a ritual and habit. We all have so many competing demands… but there is no better gift than sharing a great book with someone you love.”
Great stuff. To those of you preparing your families for a new school year launch this month, best of luck!
Pamela Price is an award-winning blogger, writer, editor, and homeschooler in San Antonio, Texas. She learned to read in 1st grade and is still addicted to it. Pamela can be found on Twitter at @redwhiteandgrew.
