A Reading Specialist’s Tips: How to Help Kids with Writing
Successful writers understand the difference between strong and weak writing, and use that knowledge to create stronger drafts.
What’s New
If You’re a Parent…With an Aspiring Reporter
Good news for my fourth grade daughter – for the latest semester of school, she has been appointed a member of the school’s “Awesome Reporters.” This group of students picks topics of interest to them and the student body and puts together articles with photos that are posted in school and sent to the local … Continued
The Importance of Reading Bedtime Stories To Your Child Before Sleep
Once upon a time, there was a parent who had a child. For one reason or another, this parent didn’t read to their child. Why? We’re not sure. Perhaps that’s a different story – one that involves excuses like “being too tired” or wanting to binge-watch Friends for the eleventh time because they’re deeply unsatisfied with … Continued
CLiF Turns 20!
The Children’s Literacy Foundation (“CLiF”) has been inspiring a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural kids in Vermont and New Hampshire for 20 years! In that time, we’ve served more then 225,000 kids in 400+ communities and given away nearly $6 million in children’s books! Last week, we celebrated this milestone … Continued
After 20 Years, CLiF Has Just Begun
Twenty years ago this week the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) was born. Like all new nonprofits, we started small. Our first initiative was the Rural Library Program. We created it to provide collections of new, high-quality children’s books to rural public libraries in New Hampshire or Vermont that were struggling with limited resources, and that … Continued
Spotlight on the CLiF Year of the Book
We’re a little more than halfway through the school year, and, for ten schools in Vermont and New Hampshire this year, the CLiF Year of the Book, which promotes a celebration of reading and writing all year long. As we welcome National Reading Month, which kicks off with Read Across America Day on March 2nd (beloved … Continued
Books to Help Kids Deal with Bullying
It’s no secret that bullying and cyberbullying is an issue facing many of our children.
How to Help with Reading: A Reading Specialist’s Tips
When is it time to start working on reading skills? Right now.
The Interesting Connection between Literacy and Behavior in Children
People are getting more enlightened today with the help of literacy. Without literacy, we wouldn’t be able to shape meaning out of the world. That is why it is so important to continue fighting for the increase of literacy for everyone. In the case of children, literacy isn’t just about understanding things and expressing opinions. … Continued
7 Ways Reading Improves Emotional Intelligence
Here are some of the ways in which reading can improve emotional intelligence in readers of any age.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018
Multicultural Children’s Book Day (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Its mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
How Children’s Books Can Change the World: A Father & Author’s Perspective
As the father of 4 wonderful kids, I understand how important it is for them to be outside, burning energy and exploring the world around them. Not to mention, it helps keep the house a little more tidy and gives us parents some time to catch up on our favorite show or book or whatever … Continued
What Educators Want Parents to Know
Educators want parents to prepare their children and teens for school by sharing a love for learning, the attitude that learning more is important, and the expectation that all children can become successful in school. How to do this?
7 Indoor Winter Games and Activities for Kids
We have created the following survival guide featuring 7 indoor winter games and activities for kids to keep them happy and regain a little bit of our sanity
If You’re a Parent and… Holiday Book Tradition, Part 2
There is nothing like the holiday season for connecting and reconnecting us to all kinds of traditions. I wrote a review of our Christmas book collection recently, and for part two, want to share some of the books I read with my daughter about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, with many thanks to our school and public … Continued
Santa’s Workshop: Delivering Books to Children of Prison Inmates for the Holidays
The CLiF office looked remarkably like Santa’s workshop this week as holiday tunes played in the background
If You’re A Parent And…Books Play a Part in Your Holiday Celebration
There is nothing like the holiday season for connecting and reconnecting us to all kinds of traditions. Everywhere I look there are reminders of past holidays and evolving seasonal activities. These are two of my most favorite Christmas tree ornaments. When my best friend from high school and I moved to Washington, DC, after college, … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
Read Your World: Children’s Books That Celebrate Diversity
With the call for more diverse books in the publishing business, it’s been heartening to see a small uptick in children’s books that reflect the beautiful diversity of the faces we see around us more and more each day. Heeding that call, three women in central Vermont are striving to make folks in their predominantly … Continued