I've always been involved in my kid's education. I've brought treats as room mom, chauffeured on field trips and sat on PTA, but the involvement I most enjoy is being part of the learning loop. I search out books that will be resources for my kids when they're hungry to learn about a subject. I look for books that will nurture them in areas they're reluctant about in school. And I look for books that are good family read and will inspire questions and provoke thinking and discussion.
Part of preparing a child for school can start with reading books about other children beginning school. Author-illustrator Kevin Henkes puts himself in the place of a child facing these transitional woes in Owen. Mouse-child Owen fears facing kindergarten with out his childhood companion, a fuzzy blanket. An intrusive neighbor tries to influence the troubled family, but it's finally Owen's mother that comes up with "an absolutely wonderful, positively perfect, especially terrific idea." Henkes shows once again that he knows children, families, and good solutions. (Greenwillow, $14.00; ages 4-6)
Another author who well-understands the inner lives of young children is Juanita Havill. She's returns to write about one of children's favorite book stars in Jamaica and Brianna and shows how hurt feelings trouble friendship in early school years. Once again Jamaica goes through not-so-pretty behavior but grows to become a heroine by the story's end. This is a great book to lead discussion about the woes of peer troubles in school. (Houghton Mifflin, $13.95; ages 5-8)
The resource front for pre to early schoolers is one of today's fastest growing non-fiction markets. Creative Editions begins a First Nature series to answer young questions with sound information and beautiful illustrations. There are twelve new titles including: The Earth , Gnat , and Wolf. ($5.95 each) Scholastic adds four titles to their First Discover books with see-thorough pages including Whales and The River ($11.95 each).
Dorling Kindersley, a publisher that has already well-earned their reputation for outstanding photographs in young children's non-fiction, has several impressive new titles. Animal Go Round by Johnny Morris helps young children view the growth of eight animals through the turn of a wheel. ($12.95). Dorling Kindersley brings visuals to 1000 words in Betty Root's My First Dictionary ($16.95).
One of the greatest literary loves of beginning novel readers are the Laura Ingalls Wilder books who learn pioneer life through her eyes. Now, there's happy news for fans! Roger Lea MacBride continues her stories by writing adventures of her daughter Rose, beginning with her eight year old journey from drought-stricken Midwest to Missouri in Little House on Rocky Ridge (HarperCollins, $3.95). The style and tone seems completely continuous with Wilder's writing and children will have a way to know another generation of America's settling.
When children begin reading to themselves, many parents want them to read classic books. Parents hand well-known novels to their children and are puzzled when they don't like them. My experience is that the classics work best when they're read-aloud. They're even easier to share if they're beautifully illustrated like Dennis Nolan's illustrations of T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. Nolan's glowing paintings merge detail and feelings to bring alive the magic, mysticism, and humanism of Wart and Merylyn. (Philomel, $18.95; ages seven to adult.)
Some of the incredible resources for children five to twelve are Knopf's Eyewitness books. This fall they offer four new titles including Aztec, Inca and Maya and Whale (both $15.00) There are outstanding pictures and information in Seymour Simon's Wolves (Ages 5-8; HarperCollins, $16.00) and Seal Journey, by photojournalist Richard Sobol and his young son Jonah (Cobblehill Books, $14.99) Amazing photographic illustrations fill the pages of Creative Editions' Images series which includes titles like Volcanoes and Rain Forest (both $15.95). Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema collaborate with words and drawings to bring to life another historic figure in Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations (Morrow, $15.00).
Many times parents worry about their children's writing. One way to pique their interest might be to begin a journal. HarperFestival books has begun a new series of high-interest "write-in-me" books. My Riding Book and My Baseball Book inspire interactive writing of record-keeping, diary and scrapbook that's great for the intimidated writer who's easily frightened by blank sheets of paper. (each 10.95, ages 8-12)
History can come alive for young adults with a strong viewpoint character. Joan Lowery Nixon begins a new series of immigrant stories, Ellis Island, with Land of Promise. Nixon is true to history and character as she tells the story of fifteen year old Rose Carney who comes to Chicago from Ireland only to learn of her father's alcoholism, find out her mother has died at home, and face her brother's association with the Blackhands. Rose meets historic people like Jane Addams and the book gives a real sense of immigrant life, but the best thing about this book is its unflinching realism of situation and character. (Bantam, $16.00; ages 11 and up). Young adults who are captured by historical fiction will admire the latest novel from award-winning author Ann Rinaldi. She brings alive another fifteen year old, Rachel March, in The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre. (Gulliver Books, $10.95; $3.95)
Kingfisher has four great reference books that can become a foundation for a personal library: Science Encyclopedia ($35.00); The Illustrated History of the World ($35.00); The Young People's Atlas of the United States ($16.95); and the Reference Atlas: An A-Z Guide to Countries of the World ($19.95).
Young adults are a funny mix. Families are always trying to find the balance of parent nurture and developing their children's sense of responsibility. A book for motivated kids is Elizabeth James and Carol Barkin's How To Be School Smart: Secrets of Successful Schoolwork (Beech Tree, $6.95). Parents can aid their kids and kids will love to investigate with Gorton Carruth's The Young Reader's Companion. Over 2,000 entries guide students searching subjects, authors, legend and myth, literary themes, and comparisons. (R.R. Bowker, $39.95
The worst tragedy in education is that parents don't consider themselves part of the learning loop. If you don't believe me take a trip to your nearest bookstore. Like most in my generation, I was raised by Dr. Benjamin Spock. Now, a significant percentage of bookstore floor space is devoted to parenting books. There are books to tell parents how to raise their baby in utero and then how to name, potty, train, feed and discipline. There are books make children smarter, thinner, sleep better... the list goes on forever.
I've thought a lot about this. On one hand, it's great that there are so many resources. It indicates parents' commitment to raising their children consciously. But like everything else, parenting has become big business and there are authorities everywhere that will tell you "the right way" to approach child-rearing. Parents who get hooked by this marketing are setting themselves up for overwhelm. But parents do get hooked, and they're afraid to just be with their kids, let their own style evolve, and become authorities about their own kids. Most parents don't seem to realize their advantage. They are the most important teachers their kids will ever have. They have more influence than anyone on determining their children's love of learning and this is the most essential ingredient in school success.
I've brought treats as room mom, chauffeured on field trips, run committees and sat on PTA. But the involvement I most enjoy is being part of the learning loop. It's a learning system that feeds everyone in my family. I have learned more with and from my kids than I learned in all my years of schooling. I enjoy telling them things that I know as much as I enjoy hearing their new discoveries.
When my children were young, I met a mother who lined her kitchen with an alphabet frieze and force fed letters to her toddler while the family ate. I met another mother who was taught her two year old to identify famous Florentine painters. I saw a house that had labels on everything. The parents boasted that their three year old could read most of the words.
I read books to my kids. I didn't make it into a career, I just had fun. When parents come to me concerned to me about "the right way" to read with kids, I urge them to have fun. We began early with Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, a magical volume that's worked for kids for fifty-six years. (Now it even comes in board book format so babies can carry it around with them.) In my mind, the first cozy page will always begin "In the great green room/There was a telephone and a red balloon..." That's because whenever I read those lines, I can't help remembering my pausing and pointing and my son responding with his young mispronunciation of the word "balloon." When I read, I accented the whispery sounds of "hush". The next time, I paused and let my kids try the way hush felt in their mouths. They went on to discover the satisfaction of rhyming "mush" with "hush" by themselves and then looked for other rhymes and accented other rhythms.
I showed them the little mouse hidden in every picture and we spent a lot of time naming things in the bunny's room and then naming colors. My daughter relaxed at night by wishing goodnight to familiar things in her own room. Many readings later, my son noticed how the colors changed when the night deepened.
When we read Brown's companion book, The Runaway Bunny, my kids quickly tracked the mama and baby bunny hidden in the illustrations. After only a few readings, they joined in when they remembered what the little bunny did to escape his relentless loving mother. They chorused the jolly "Have a carrot," ending. My daughter one day grabbed a carrot, handed it to me, and repeated the ending. It was early that characters and their words became a part of our life.
I remember one special day when my son ran off to get the tattered copy of Goodnight Moon because he realized that one of its walls bore an illustration from The Runaway Bunny. He had suddenly been included on the illustrators' hidden joke. It wasn't long before my kids were recognizing Clement Hurd's illustrations in other books.
As my kids get older, I find we've become learning partners. There are several things I do to feed their excitement of learning. I'm continually on the look out for good reference books. Kingfisher has recently released four fat thorough books that can become a foundation for a personal reference library. Their self-explanatory titles are: Science Encyclopedia ; The Illustrated History of the World; The Young People's Atlas of the United States ; and the Reference Atlas: An A-Z Guide to Countries of the World.
I also look for books that will prod my children in areas they're reluctant about in school. For a child who's a reluctant writer, HarperCollins has begun a new series of engaging "write-in-me" books. My Riding Book and My Baseball Book inspire interactive writing. This combination record-keeping-diary- scrapbook is great for someone who's easily frightened by blank sheets of paper. (each 10.95, ages 8-12)
The part of the learning loop I most enjoy, however, is our reading times together. I've learned to choose books that will provoke thought and discussion. Parents' goal should be to get their children beyond the nondescript "I liked it" or "It was a good book."
As parents read, it pays to pause and ask open-ended questions. Questions can get more complex as children grow up. Reading E.B. White's Charlotte's Web you might ask six year olds why they'd like to have Charlotte for a best friend. Eight year olds what Wilbur most values in Charlotte and what she loves about him. The thought can be extended by asking them what they most value in their friends and what they're valued for. This way parents get to learn about their children and teach them to apply books to their won lives.
I have to admit that part of this process evolved from self interest. My children's input is a crucial part of my reviewing process. As we make our way through the thousands of new books every year, we wonder about worst and best parts. We predict endings, improve on endings, talk about what age a book is meant for. We talk about what makes a book succeed or fail. Why does Charlotte's death makes readers cry? Why is it a book that so many kids love?
I like how Gary Paulsen says it in the introduction of his young adult novel, The Winter Room. (Orchard, He concludes three pages of images with this statement: "If books could have more, give more, be more, show more, they would still need readers who bring to them sound and smell and light and all the rest that can't be in books. The book needs you."
Learning children need you too!