As parents we all want to give our children the best of the best, and that includes the best start at education. Most understand the importance of reading with your child to increase their joy of not only reading but learning.
When reading with your child ask them:
What was the story about?
Where did it take place? When did it take place?
Was there a moment that was especially exciting or moving? How did it come about?
Was there a character that you really liked? Why?
What did you discover through reading this book?
What was the main thing the author wanted you to learn?
These question will allow them to fall deeper into the story and recall more information. This may not be as important when reading Cinderella as it is when reading Biochemical Microbiology.
Whether you are reading from a book, Kindle or online… the focus is the same - reading is the main and most wonderful way to share ideas and imagination.
So your kids are on Facebook, they text like crazy and to be honest they know more about online networking than you do. Well, here is some good news. With the new service Class-Connect students can network with other students and teachers across the globe.
Why this is cool…
Kids can learn from others as well as share their knowledge with those in say, France. Its kind of like a new, techie version of the foreign exchange student program.
Also students can send texts to receive their homework as well as talk with others about the work they are doing in class.
There is nothing more valuable to the mind of a child than information. If we as parents can broaden their information highways by sharing the world with them, it is said to increase IQ by 10-20 points; Just from giving them a worldly perspective.
eReaders are the new gadget that is a must have! You might be aware of the Kindle, Sony and even some others, but ever get tired of reading from the same black and white, boring reader? Well, this reader ‘ain’t your parents reader.
The New COOL-er comes in jewel tone beauty and resembles somewhat of a iPod Nano-ish flare!
What does this have to do with kids, ebooks and online reading?
Everything!!
I dont know many kids that would like a simple white Kindle that looks like the one thier mom and dad have BUT, if they can get a pink one or one the color of their favorite football team, then it makes it personal.
Just like the iPod brought kids to music, the ereader can bring kids to online books. So by providing them with the tools to get the wide range of online knowledge through ebooks they have more options, just like the iPod and Internet brought music and knowledge to life, ebooks bring reading to life, and that is magic!
This week I have been talking with some young people about what reading is to them and what they like to read about. They had some very fun and very funny things to say.
Catherine, age 4
“I like to read books that are pink and have sparkles that have princesses and girls in them with a prince who loves pink princesses.”
Hank, age 6
“Books are fun only when my mom makes voices and my dad does the actions of the people inside the books.”
Jackson, age 3
“I just like books, they are fun when they are colorful.”
Ryan, age 7
“Books are good. My teachers makes us read for 20 minutes everyday but if I like to book I will read longer. My favorite book is Captain Underpants.”
I love hearing kids talk about books. You get such a wide description of their experiences. Ask your kids, or cousins, nieces or nephews what they like to read and what they do to prepare to read. Do they like quiet, alone time, bedtime, long books, pictures, or do they like to make up stories? Let them show you how they read. Then come share!
In line with this weeks celebration of Children’s Books I though I would share some of my favorite books as a child. Most of my adventures centered around beautiful princesses, rescuing princes, fairies, and girlish dreams of love. Here is my top 5, I would love to hear yours.
5. The Twelve Dancing Princesses by The Brothers Grim
4. The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base
3. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnette
2. Ramona Quimby age 8 by Beverly Cleary
1. The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur by Spencer Johnson, MD.
I bet you watched and heard of children in others countries on infomercials at 3am talking about poverty, education shortfalls, and the bleak future these children face. The shortage of teachers and schools available leaves children who are left by parents searching for work to enter into the service industry, cleaning the homes of the small amount of wealthy, seamstresses, or manufacturing cheap American goods for export making even less than the products are worth. The scariest of trades comes when these children are kidnapped and forced into the sex industry.
Heartbreaking, and hard to imagine considering the luxury we gain from living in America. But companies are starting to take notice of elearning and the benefits that can be obtained from providing courses to children with refurbished computers.
eLearning can provide a fairly cheap and sometimes donated tool to bring students into learning and give them options other than poverty. It is a way to break the cycle of countries that are struggling to provide education.
eLearning can be the link that gives children success in the most unsuccessful countries and even in within the US, states that have large areas of poverty can benefit from programs that provide refurbished computers and software that enhances learning. Tools that could be used in community centers, after school programs and church outreach. eLearning is no longer just about books, it is a whole new opportunity for giving the greatest tool for advancement - knowledge.
As a student I am so excited about a article written two days ago on Econtentmag.com about Web 2.0 and ebooks in the classroom. Educators are taking notice the opportunity to not only save money from the rising costs of printing new and updated versions of textbooks each year but also the effects of green economics and more and more students looking for alternatives.
Bookshelf provides free software, allowing users to download, store, and manage etextbooks. With publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Elsevier, and John Wiley & Sons providing textbooks in the VitalBook format, users have the option of downloading directly from a publisher’s website or through VitalSource.
Just to give an example of the uses increase, last years NFP Read an eBook Week saw and catered to a small group of 1200 readers, however this year the group heard from and saw participation from some 30k users.
Jason Overby from the College of Charleston explains, new features are making the books more useful. “I’ve known about electronic books for quite a while, but I’ve never been a fan of what was available up until this point,”
The new options for not only download of textbooks, but to take notes and transfer chapters to mobile devices such as iPhone and Blackberry a student does not have to drag with him 5 textbooks, a laptop, and notebooks; the new student be more efficient and learn in a language that not only speaks his, but also is more likely to be read and studied. Since users are more comfortable with downloading content (thanks iTunes) it is now user friendly so use ebooks and etexts.
Like I said before, as a student this is a simple sell for me.
