Articles tagged Literacy
Last night, CLiF staff, board members, past grantees and volunteers joined more than 50 folks from the Monadnock region of New Hampshire at the Mariposa Museum & World Cultures Center in Peterborough, NH to celebrate literacy and learn more about CLiF’s work promoting a love of reading and writing across the region. We all had … Continued
As summer ends, we all begin to think about preparing our children for the school year to come – new backpacks, sneakers, pencils, and notebooks. You have double and triple-checked the list that you received in July – outlining everything that your child will need in the year to come, but you stop to wonder … Continued
The Lake was placid, but a momentary commotion caused by a pair of loons who swooped down to breach the glass surface sent a wave of mirrored ripples across the lake. After the loons silent glide, they dove under the water for food, and all was calm again. Serenity. Despite the distraction of the amazing … Continued
By Simon Brooks As a storyteller I travel to many different schools and colleges, libraries, birthday parties, summer camps, business retreats, and private events. As a result I see a great many people from all walks of life, especially younger people. I have seen and performed for both the rich and economically challenged and learned … Continued
By Caroline Jones Let me begin by saying that “Mr. Tim’s Bike” sounds like an awesome children’s book, and someone should get started on writing it right now. We can talk later about splitting the profits. So here’s the deal: Mr. Tim is a para-educator at J. J. Flynn Elementary School in Burlington, and I … Continued
By Caroline Jones Someone once told me that the best way to cure jet lag is to spend a day surrounded by high-energy children, bumping around the state of Vermont from one CLiF event to the next like a pinball whose internal clock is seven hours ahead. I’m not sure how medically sound that advice … Continued
By Caroline Jones, CLiF’s Summer Intern I know what you’re thinking: “Who is that budding reader and aspiring politician in the blue dress in the front row? Why is she in this group of small children holding books with pre-scream Governor Dean in this painfully ‘90’s photo?” Fear not, faithful readers. ‘Tis I, Caroline, CLiF’s … Continued
At CLiF, much of our work occurs behind the scenes. We spend many hours scheduling events, organizing logistics, communicating with coordinators who are on the ground in various communities throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. While we love what we do, nothing compares to hanging up the phone, logging off our email, and stepping out from … Continued
What do skiing, books, and microcontrollers all have in common? The CLiF Community Literacy Conference, of course! In all honesty, the skiing was only a background as attendees sat slopeside in the conference room at The Mountain Club on Loon. While the spring skiers glided past the window, teachers, principals, librarians, and other eager past, … Continued
Everyone at CLiF was saddened to learn that longtime CLiF Advisor Mary Jane (MJ) Manahan passed away earlier this month at 61.
General / If you're a parent and...
I’ll be honest – I burst into tears. At first I didn’t believe it. Emmett’s friend (who is nine) had been sitting with him looking at a book when she alerted me: Emmett can read. I said, “What?! Really? Are you sure?” “Watch,” was her response. She pointed to the word car, and Emmett said, … Continued
What better way to spend a cold winter Saturday afternoon than reading? This Saturday, January 24 is the first National Readathon Day. A project of the National Book Foundation, GoodReads, Mashable, and Penguin Random House, National Readathon Day aims to raise awareness about the millions of Americans who struggle with low literacy skills. From noon to 4 … Continued
General / If you're a parent and...
At the last Scholastic Book Fair, my daughter coveted a hot pink cat diary. She bought it with her own money. She amazes me by diligently filling in her schedule on the calendar and filling in her “contacts” in the address book. It did backfire when we wanted to change a family movie night that … Continued
General / If you're a parent and...
Sarah Stewart Taylor, a CLiF presenter and author, interviewed CLiF’s founder and executive director Duncan McDougall for a recent parenting piece. Sarah summarizes the aspects of reading supported by our programs – relaxing and enjoying the moment, modeling by reading yourself, repeating books, and letting kids choose. I know this is true, and I feel like … Continued
General / If you're a parent and...
Countless studies analyze to what extent kids take their cues on how to react and how to behave from their parents. A devotee of the PBSKids show Wild Kratts, my six-year-old has absorbed an astonishing amount of animal facts. When she calmly and with interest told me there was a snake on the swimming ladder, … Continued
General / If you're a parent and...
Happy July 4th! This holiday inspires me to read books about American history: presidents, symbols, battles, trivia, monuments, houses – there are some great stories! Tomorrow we’ll wrap up a day of parades, candy, fireworks, barbecues, and swimming with two of my daughter’s favorite books: Looking At Lincoln and So You Want to Be President. She read one … Continued
General / If you're a parent and...
Today is the last day of school – let summer vacation begin! Planning child care, camps, vacations, work obligations, and family visits has been a three month process. And we all know that despite these best-laid plans, our carefully structured calendar will be rocked by the unforeseeable – beach days interrupted by afternoon thunderstorms or … Continued
June is here! We’re celebrating lots of grant program finales and are gearing up for summer… Summer Readers in particular. Let’s take a breather to catch up on some literacy news. Just in time for Father’s Day next weekend, here’s the #DadsRead campaign. The campaign, “designed to encourage fathers to read with their kids and celebrate dads who … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.