September is coming to a close. The CLiF Year of the Book has been successfully launched in eight elementary schools, and schools that saw 80% or more of families commit to regularly reading together are getting ice cream socials. Rural Libraries kickoffs are coming up next. And in the office, we’re assembling the newsletter, preparing for the Nov. 14 Hanover Rotary Club Auction Gala to benefit CLiF programs in the Upper Valley (tickets available now!) and, yep, planning for winter and spring programs. It’s a busy time.
But it’s going to be 80 degrees and sunny this weekend, so that’s where my head is right now. There, and mulling over a couple of really thoughtful literacy-related articles in the news this week:
- Here’s a fascinating theory reported through the Vancouver Sun‘s Raise-a-Reader project: in very small kids, spontaneous artmaking leads directly to language literacy. The idea is the symbols children use in art to report on or make sense of their lives are directly related to the symbols of language.
- Loved this article from KQED interviewing librarians about back-to-school books… for parents.
- In honor of Banned Books Week, here’s a piece by Dav Pilkey, creator of the wildly popular and frequently challenged Captain Underpants series.
From the post: “As grown-ups, we need to respect our children’s rights to choose what they want to read. Kids who have fun reading are making a connection in their brains that reading is valuable and rewarding. That very connection is what turns ordinary kids into lifelong readers.” Read more.
- And another HuffPo piece from blogger Laurie Levy about encouraging kids to read when they’re ready and keeping reading a joy rather than a drill.
Happy Friday!
