Summer Series: Vol V
SUMMER SERIES: Volume V - Week of August 4th
📚reading, reading, reading 📚
"Reading changes our lives and our lives change our reading." -- Maryanne Wolf
Welcome to Vol. V of the summer email series.
If you've been here for a bit, you know the drill... CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
If you're new around these parts, here's all you need to know:
We think summer can be awesome and not so awesome - it's to be expected and totally ok if you're not ok ✔
This Summer Series can be super helpful for any family - and is especially designed for families with amazingly neurologically diverse kiddos 💥
If you want to catch up on the ones you've missed, all summer series can be found HERE. 👀
Now let's dive in to Volume V - ALL ABOUT READING - woohoo!
Before we get started, I have an invitation for you:
Think about what you remember about reading from when you were a child:
Was it enjoyable? Or dreaded?
Did it feel easy? Or hard?
Did it change over the years? Or stay the same?
What were some of your favorite (or least favorite) reading experiences?
Were those at home? at school? somewhere else?
Did your reading experiences as a child have an impact on your reading now?
(Important note: I wrote EXPERIENCES not EDUCATION on purpose)
I invite you to think about your reading experiences from your own childhood as you read through these suggestions for your child's own reading and literacy experiences.
Now let's get into the specific age groups, yeah?!
As with every week, you'll find: something to do out and about; something to do at home; and a parenting tip for each age group. Pick and choose as you please! 🏡
AGES 0-5
OUTING: go to a library together! There are so many amazing libraries around here, you really can't go wrong. But one of our favorites for the littles is Milton Public Library. Check out their storytimes and get togethers (a great way to meet other parents, too!) or just browse the shelves, toys, and fish!
FUN @ HOME: read, read, read, and read some more. Let them play with books, hold books, pick books, flip through books, make up their own stories and songs, and just keep reading! Babbling, singing, talking, storytelling, and picture walks are alllllll supporting literacy development.
PARENTING TIP: Tips this week are coming in the way of quotes from some of my favorite literacy mentors: "Learning to read begins the first time an infant is held and read a story." - Maryanne Wolf
AGES 5-11
OUTING: go to a library together! Let THEM lead with what books they want to look at, read, try, . Ditch the summer reading list if it doesn't serve you - and PLEASE ditch worrying about their reading level. Just get books that spark JOY!
FUN @ HOME: Talk about books, tell stories, sing songs (all literacy) and read aloud! You're never too old to be read to. Encourage (don't force) them to try different styles of reading - there's so much more than just chapter books - newspapers, magazines, graphic novels, comic books, audiobooks, and even song lyrics! Find what they WANT to read!
PARENTING TIP: Tips this week come in the form of quotes from my favorite literacy mentors: "It is never the fault of the child, but rather the responsibility of us who teach to find methods that work for that child." Maryanne Wolf
AGES 11+
OUTING: go to a library or a bookstore! Libraries are AMAZING - and the Tufts Weymouth Library in particular does a TON of awesome stuff for tweens and teens. Their teen librarian is super awesome and they put so much effort into bringing kids this age together, so definitely check them out! This age group would also love a book store - whether you want to browse the shelves at Savers or Goodwill or go to a Barnes and Noble, there's nothing like buying a new book.
FUN @ HOME: Read in front of them!! Yes, you can also read with them, read to them, or read alone. But please - read in front of them! Encourage their love of reading in whatever way it comes - whether it's Manga or Marvel; Anne of Green Gables or Court of Thorn and Roses; Comics, Classics, and subtitles - it's all reading. Take the pressure off and the hassle out and let it be free. Forced readers (at any age, but especially this age) will become resentful readers. And YES audiobooks are reading!
PARENTING TIP: Another gem from Maryanne Wolf: "We are not only what we read. We are how we read."
Do you have any ideas or suggestions?! We'd love to hear them!!
(ESPECIALLY if your kids are also highly sensitive / neurospicy / not the super adaptable type kid that can go anywhere and do anything)
💞Email (hello@elementsacademy.org) and share what reading is like in your house - and (if you couldn't tell already) I'm particularly passionate about reading (and kids' relationship with reading) so if you have kids at home with reading trauma, let me know! I can help repair it. It's never too late - trust me. We can do it together.
Here's to falling in love with reading in all ways at all ages,
📚Heather & Elements Academy Family
P.S. Here are a couple of blog posts I've written in the past about literacy
Literacy doesn't fit in a box (from 2020 when we were Rising Tides Academy/RTA)