Learning Focus
November 2020 | Focus: Supporting Reading at Home
The Reading Habit
With all of the competing priorities that children and families face everyday, making time for reading at home may seem like a luxury. However, it is well documented that children who develop and maintain a habit of reading experience the most educational success. Research has proven that reading helps to develop strong social skills, writing skills, and helps children better handle complex concepts and ideas. There is not a subject in school that is not impacted by a child's ability to read. Reading expands a child's ability to build knowledge, consider a variety of perspectives, and make connections to the world. This month's Learning Focus looks to provide parents with resources and advice on how to support, maintain, and even rekindle the habit of reading at home.
Let's kick off this newsletter with the most basic piece of reading advice- visit your local library, get a library card, and read your hearts out! Happy reading!
20 Tips to Encourage Your Elementary Schoolers to Read
Caregivers are you looking for a great resource about how to support your elementary schooler's reading at home? Our friends at Scholastic have you covered with their 20 Tips to Encourage Your Elementary Schoolers to Read. These parent inspired ideas are sure to keep your child turning the pages!
How to Motivate a Middle School Reader
With all of the changes the middle school years can bring, getting your tweens and teens to continue to engage in reading can be a difficult task. Regan McMahon in her Common Sense Media article, How to Motivate a Middle School Reader, offers some practical advice on how to help your middle schooler rediscover their excitement for reading.
10 Tech Hacks to Help the Struggling Reader
Helping a struggling reader at home can be a tall order. If you are a parent looking for some guidance, Time Magazine's Parent contributor, Belinda Luscombe, provides 10 Tech Hacks to Help the Struggling Reader. The article suggests grade-level based apps and programs that have been proven to help children that find reading challenging.
Parent Help Tool: Common Sense Media
In today's world, making book choices for your children can sometimes be difficult. There are simply so many factors (age, interest, content, readability, ect.) to look for and consider. Given these considerations, Common Sense Media is a great tool to help guide your decision-making process. Using independent age-based ratings and reviews, Common Sense Media rates books and more so that "parents can feel good about the entertainment choices they make for their kids." Simply enter a title in their search tool to get reliable ratings as well as an easy to read parents' guide on what to look for in each book. The site can also provide you with book recommendations that will peak your child's interest and that you can feel good about too.
MICHAEL F. BERNER, M.ED. SUPERVISOR OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
Email: mberner@lumberton.k12.nj.us
Website: https://www.lumberton.k12.nj.us/
Location: 33 Municipal Drive, Lumberton, NJ, USA
Phone: 6092671406