College Ready

Sharing strategies for student success, college readiness and academic coaching

Tag Archives: kids


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Reading Matters. Read Aloud 15: If you wait, it’s too late.

I am so excited to continue my work as a Read Aloud 15 partner. The reality is that 15 minutes of reading aloud daily, starting at birth, can change the face of education in our country.
Early literacy opens up educational opportunity for a lifetime. It’s a cause I feel passionately about & I’m thrilled to be among those selected to spread this message, with the help of my site collegereadycoach.com. It feels like a gift (to me) actually, to be able to do this kind of work.
Our next campaign kicks off in March, but I’m available ~any time~ to provide materials, (handouts, bookmarks, etc) and/or to talk with you or your organization about the importance of reading aloud to kids…Every Child, Every Day.
#readaloud15 #readingmatters #ifyouwaititstoolate #bethechange #followyourpassion


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Six Tips to Keep Kids Reading this Summer and 5 Apps to Help Make it Fun & Rewarding

Make sure your students continue to read this summer. Reading leads to greater success in both college and career, and greater engagement in community events and civic issues that are important to us all. Reading truly is the road to success.

Here are 6 tips and 5 apps to make it easier to hop on the road to summer reading:

Why reading matters.


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24 Quotes for Living a Happy Life, from Dr. Seuss

Let’s face it–all the best quotes come from Dr. Seuss! I think I could comfortably say that everything I ever needed to learn, I learned from him. Kindness. Respect for the Earth. Tolerance for people who are different than yourself. Treating the smallest among us as equals. Loving yourself.

I thought I’d share this collection of inspirational quotes now, since it is commencement time and young people are graduating, from Kindergarten to college. You can’t beat the timeless advice of good ole’ Dr. Seuss. There’s something here for EVERYONE. He’s the original guru!

All the best quotes come from Dr Seuss--he's a guru.

My favorite little tidbit…the one I hold near and dear to my heart? “A person’s a person…no matter how small.” What about you? Do you have a favorite quote from Dr. Seuss? Let us know in the comments.

You can order this print via Momo Prints on Etsy. 


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Find Your Happy Today

My happy is:

In the classroom, connecting with students. Forget About What Everyone Else Thinks And Says

The “Aha Moments” when that student finally puts it all together.

The struggle that finally leads to success.

A little creek with some big rocks for sitting on and thinking.

The path, the journey, and sometimes the destination.

A cup of coffee with a friend.

Pages of a book, sometimes filled with notes I’ve made.

Smiles of children that are my heart beating outside of my body.

Writing just one word that makes a picture.

Finding beauty along the way.

What’s your happy?

If it makes you happy, go for it.xo~Lisa

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”  -Aristotle

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” Dalai Lama

 

Any little thought will do. Peter Pan

 

 

8 Great Reads While Waiting for the Next Wimpy Kid to Come Out

These suggestions come from Scholastic Book Publishers and are kid-tested and (this) mother approved! 🙂 You can click the link to read a brief synopsis of each title. The books listed generally appeal to all kids, but especially reluctant readers, and of course, Wimpy Kid fans–young and old!


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The Big Reveal: This is the Most Dangerous Book in America

In yesterday’s post, I included an image of 40 books that have been banned and today, I promised you the title of the Most Dangerous Book in America… and here it is. Drum roll please…

He’s charming. He’s bald. He’s a baby in a diaper. He’s CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS…

That’s right. The #1 spot on the Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged or Banned Books for 2012 goes to none other than the irrepressible, irreverent Dav Pilkey and his erstwhile tralala’ing Captain Underpants.

I get it. Parents don’t like potty mouth and they don’t like the word Poop. Or boogers. Or diaper-wearing babies that make fart jokes. But guess what?? Kids do! Boys and Girls do! Reluctant Readers do! And that’s all that matters, in the end, is the reading. We need to hook kids into reading, and kids love these books.

Let them read. Please. Parents and  teachers, I implore you to simply let kids read what they love. And hey, I’ll let you in on a secret: a few silly poop jokes never hurt anyone.

So go ahead. Live Dangerously and read this book or any other banned book. Celebrate your Freedom to Read!

xo, Lisa

“We shouldn’t teach great books. We should teach a love of reading.” B. F. Skinner

On Teaching a Love of Reading.

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On Teaching a Love of Reading.

“We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.” B. F. Skinner

This is my truth…always has been. Always will be.

AND, it’s why my son, in 2nd grade, read the entire Captain Underpants series. Even though the school library wouldn’t stock the books, (something about the word booger and/or atomic wedgie in every title, I guess). Even with a mom with an MA in American Literature. Yep. I encouraged him. Heck, I even bought ’em for him!

Because when you want to read…when you love to read…when you can’t wait to turn that next page to see what comes next…You Read.

And that’s all that matters, in the end. The reading.

B.F. Skinner had it right!

           Teach a love of Reading.

                  Amen & hallelujah.

Oh, and PS: Full disclosure–I had to look up the correct spelling of “booger.” Guess it’s been too long since I have read a Dav Pilkey EPIC novel! 🙂

So, tell us…how do you make sure your students or your children want to read? Are there books they would read again and again? Books they love but you hate? We’d love to hear from you in the comments. 

Sept. 2014 Postscript since this post was originally published: Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series has claimed the top spot on the Most Frequently Banned Books list for two years in a row, 2012 and 2013. All the more reason to live dangerously…read!

Feel free to follow me here, or on Facebook, Tumblr or Pinterest, for more short but sweet posts, freebies, teaching ideas and fun images about literacy, reading and education, with a side serving of inspiration. Because we could all use a little more inspiration. Right? Right!

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Books, Bedtime and Beyond: Why Family Reading Rocks

Even MORE reasons to read to a child. Reading aloud “builds a child’s WANT to read.” Think your kiddo is too old for you to read to them at bedtime? Think again. Check out the difference in a child’s interest in reading between Kindergarten and Fourth Grade! What was the key difference? Parents stopped reading to kids.

By 12th grade-only 19% of kids asked said they were interested in reading! When you consider that higher levels of college readiness are linked to reading skills, I have just one word for that statistic: Noooooooo….but what can you do about it?

One thing our family started last summer was family reading time. We picked a classic-The Wind in the Willows-and each of us would read a few pages at a time. We read it together each night and enjoyed the simplicity of the words, the comfort of the timeless message and the beauty of the illustrations. Yes, even my Minecraft lovin’ middle school boy unplugged long enough to take part! He loved doing accents and really cracked up at Toad’s antics. So get silly, have fun, and share the joy of reading at any age!! What types of family reading do you do with your kids?

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This beautiful infographic was produced by usborneusa.com and Nancy Ann Wartman

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