On reading out loud (especially to our children)

A recent article in The Guardian titled "Modern Life means children miss out on the pleasures of reading a good book" provided the rather bad news that reading for pleasure is declining among primary-age pupils.  One of the key reasons cited was "time-poor" parents were no longer reading to their children at bedtime. This really saddened me. I can't imagine a person so time-poor that they can't spend 15 or so minutes reading to their children before bed. It's not only a chance to demonstrate, in a very literal sense, how utterly pleasurable a story can be - setting up children for a lifetime of reading enjoyment, it's a few moments of closeness that might otherwise be hard to find in our busy lives.

This becomes increasingly important as children get older and time-poor themselves. Though my two boys now feel they're too old to be read to before bed, we read together until they were each about 12 years old (the decision to stop was theirs, and it happened pretty naturally).  By then I was reading them books like Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (I read the entire series with my middle boy) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, which really challenged my ability (or lack thereof) with the Scottish accent. No matter how tongue-tied I got, we always ended up laughing.

Last night I finished Black Beauty with my 10 year old daughter - my youngest child, and I'm hoping that I can continue reading to her for at least another few years.  I have to admit that my reasons for this are partly selfish.  As we choose the books we'll read together, I can choose titles I've always wanted to read but never got around to.  I can also relax into the reading process, put on accents, get dramatic and end on a flourish ("tomorrow night we'll hear all about The Devil's Trade Mark.").  Sometimes I give my daughter a little massage after her reading.  Sometimes we'll talk for a bit about what happened in the story or about other things.  It's the best part of my day and something I look forward to greatly.

My mother always read to me too, for a long time after I was past my preschool years, and I still can conjure up that sense of safety, comfort and joy of hearing a story - even one that I already knew well, like Where the Wild Things Are or On Beyond Zebra.  Sendak and Seuss were mainstays of my childhood, and I didn't need Mem Fox to encourage me to read these, and other books, to my children - it just seemed normal to pick up a book and read to them (though I agree with every word of Fox's Reading Magic).

If you aren't reading to your children (and other people's children too), you're not only eliminating a potentially powerful tool for helping children understand the relationship between letters, sounds, words, and the magic of stories, but you're also missing out on one of life's biggest pleasures.  Of course, I know that whatever demographic The Guardian surveyed, it didn't include you!

Guest Blog: Tips to Keep Children Active

Today's guest blog is a little different from the usual book faire.  Martha Swirzinski is an author, and her children's books, Leap...Laugh...Plop and  Guess...Giggle...Wiggle are all about movement and activity, so she's dropped by to talk to us about how to keep children active.  

 Tips to Keep Children Active

Use Outside as your Play Room

• Take a nature hike – name the colors you see, pick up trash for a more pleasant environment, count different types of plants, move like the animals you see.
• Visit a pick your own berry farm
• Play at a neighborhood park
• Ride bikes
• Walk the dog together or just take a walk as a family
• Teach your child how to plant a garden
• Dig for worms and roly poly animals
• Draw on the sidewalk with chalk

 Find out what your child likes to do

• Read- take a walk to the library, pick books that encourage movement throughout the story.
• Draw –  draw people being active and act out what they are doing
• Play- Try some of the classic games like Red Rover, Red Light/Green Light, Hopscotch, Tag, Charades, or 4 Square.
• Climb – a tree, a rope, a rock wall
• Dance- turn on the music and DANCE!!  No one is watching so be silly and have fun!

Set a positive example

• Park farther from store entrances
• Take the stairs
• When you go to the park with your child be active with them and have fun playing.
• Eat healthy snacks and meals
• Take your children places that encourage walking: Zoo, botanical gardens, beach, museums, and parks.

Safety Tips

• Teach children about personal space.  Have each child extend their arms to the side and turn slowly in a complete circle.  Make sure the arms of one child do not touch the arms of another child.
• Use the concept of freeze.  Play areas are often noisy so use your outside voice and yell freeze.  Teach the children that when they hear the word freeze they immediately hold the pose that they are in.  You can then have them sit down and regain their personal space.
• Be sure that the proper fitting safety gear is worn for the activity.
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.  Drinking water is important when children are exercising, especially when it is hot.  The Centers for Disease Control recommends 10 ounces every 15 – 20 minutes.

Martha received her Masters Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Maryland at College Park. She collaborated with Dr. Anita Tieman, a mental health therapist, to develop a series of books titled Movement and More. These three books, the fourth is on its way, are perfect for babies all the way to grade school children. Using entertaining rhymes and charming pictures, these developmentally based books offer fun and creative ways for your child to move while also providing mind stimulating activities on each page. Each book focuses on a specific set of movement skills. By just reading the book, children can engage in fun and exciting movement as well as enhancing other mind/body skills. Designed to be enjoyed again and again, the pages of these books are filled with laughter, learning, movement and more.

To purchase books:  www.wholechildpublishing.com


Drop by Kevin McNamee's blog tomorrow for another great Writers on the Move interview with Mari Taylor.

A visit from Martha Swirzinski

Today's guest blogger is Martha Swirzinski, author of the Movement and More series of books for young children.  Martha holds a Bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation from Clemson University and a Master's from the University of Maryland in Kinesiology.  With more than 15 years of experience working in the field of movement with children and adults, she knows a thing or two about the value of movement education and the value of structured movement for children. Using entertaining rhymes and charming pictures, these developmentally based books offer fun and creative ways for children to move while also providing mind stimulating activities on each page. By following the suggested activities, children can engage in 30-60 minutes of their recommended structured daily movement, as well as enhancing other mind/body skills. Designed to be enjoyed again and again, the pages of these books are filled with laughter, learning, movement and more.   Martha’s books are: Leap… Laugh… Plop, Guess… Giggle… Wiggle, and Kick… Catch… Buzz.
Today Martha blogs on the topic of Building better bodies and brains

What is the one thing you can do for yourself and your child that will have the biggest impact on your body and brain? If you said exercise, you were right. We all know that getting your body moving is great for your health but did you know it is just as important for good brain health. That’s right, when you and your child get up and moving it actually helps increase learning.

Advances in brain research show that most of the brain is activated during physical activity. Eric Jensen, author of Brain Based Learning and Teaching, tells us that after 10 minutes of sitting our brain starts to shut down. The learner gets sleepy and learning declines. So what is one to do? Yep, that’s right get your body moving. Moving “increases blood vessels that allow for the delivery of oxygen, water, and glucose (“brain food”) to the brain” (Pica, Rae)

A few facts to ponder:
• “Aerobic exercise just twice a week halves your risk of general dementia. It cuts your risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent.” (Medina John)

• “Being active grows new brain cells.

• Balance improves reading capacity.

• Movement can help reinforce academic skills for all students.

• Play can increase attention.” (Blaydes, Jean)

So, bottom line, make sure you and your children are active every day. It doesn’t have to be torture, make it fun. For a list of fun ways to incorporate movement into your everyday life with your children go to www.wholechildpublishing.com

Tour with VBT-Writers on the Move through April. New and famous authors, plus useful information.