Reading Together

Most Recently Read Book:

Reading Together: Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read

By Diane W. Frankenstein

The end of the school year always seems to put me in a mood for reading professional books. I think it's because the end of the year I'm in an anticipation stage for next year. (Back in January I was in the disillusionment phase...luckily, I survived that...) This book is a neat handbook for parents. I think teachers could use it as a reference for books, too. There are 101 books that she focuses on and summarizes and gives themes, quotes from the book, questions to ask, lessons, and even other books that are similar to it. She also has lists of books in the back for different categories of books. This is kind of what I'm thinking I'd like to do if I start a book blog. I think I would make it more geared towards teachers, but I like her ideas a lot. Here's my favorite tidbit from the book:

help children find an appropriate book

+talk with them about the story

=children who connect with stories and

love the stories they read

I wish it was all that easy...I guess as a parent I believe that. As a teacher, it's hard because I only work with my students so many minutes a day so the parents have to be doing this at home, too. Parents are soooooo important in guiding kids toward a love of reading. I do love the message about talking to kids about books though. I believe that teachers should be reading what their students are reading so they can talk about books, recommend books, and share books with them. I also strongly believe that parents and teachers should be reading with kids and talking to kids about books all through high school. It doesn't stop when they are able to read independently.