This week's post is brought to us by Tonia A. She brings us some great thoughts on literacy and scripture study in our families. Enjoy! Thanks, Tonia!
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There is a certain blog I like to follow. As I read it, I feel inspired to be better but not discouraged because I don’t measure up. I feel good about what I am doing in my own efforts as a mother, a daughter of God, a wife and a regular person just trying to do her best. The blogger writes it in a way that helps me to realize that she is real and that it is ok for me to be real. Not perfect, but trying and failing, sometimes succeeding but always trying.
The other day Steve and I were talking about literacy. He mentioned something about health literacy. He said that even if you are very literate you may have low health literacy. Something about not being well read or having a good understanding of a particular health condition….never thought about it that way.
So does that mean we can be literate, but have low doctrinal literacy? In health literacy you can read a lot but if you don’t understand the words, good luck. Anyone know what a sphygmomanometer is? When I think of doctrinal literacy and not understanding the words, I think of the Old Testament and Isaiah. I read it, ok not that often, but when I have read it, I don’t understand it.
What about our kids? We are reading the large print Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families with the kids in the morning. It’s a great copy as it has lots of teaching tools. This helps us to add interesting facts and to ask “insightful” questions to the kids. Trust me, we need to do anything and everything we can some mornings to capture their interest. One is worried about getting to the bus on time, another is still eating breakfast, a third is rubbing sleep from the eyes. Some days we just read….as quickly as we can just to get it in before the bus really does come. Some days we do miss the bus because we were a little slower moving. Other days we get started soon enough to ask questions. I think this is when we have a fighting chance of building doctrinal literacy. Steve said that helping patients become more health literate is vital in building a “healthy” (pun intended) self-reliance in the patients. They take greater ownership of their health status.
I bet the same applies to our kids. For them to take greater ownership of their “spiritual” status they need to understand the words. We’ve taken a lot of different approaches to family scripture study. Sometimes we have to adjust how we go about it because what worked once doesn’t seem to be working any more.
Elder Bednar taught that consistency is what matters. Even though our efforts may not be perfect, as we strive to have family scripture study, just like my “blogger friend,” we need to keep trying. Eventually our children will become doctrinally literate and it will build their testimonies. They will become spiritually self-reliant.
Perhaps this is where reading the scriptures helps with reading literacy and builds doctrinal literacy at the same time. Not a bad two-fer.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Devouring books
This week's post is brought to us by Sharon H. She gave us a five minute spotlight last Sunday related to continuing education and the joys of reading. It was great! And she was kind enough to write it up for the blog! Enjoy!
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I have always loved to read. What a great way to escape, learn and become somebody else. When I was a young girl, my girlfriend and I would walk to the library every Saturday (up and down hills - it seemed a long way). I always had an overwhelming desire to read all the books in the library. (My favorite scene in "Beauty and the Beast" is when the Beast gives Belle the library. Imagine a room full of books - floor to ceiling!)
As a mother, I think one of the best things we can give our children is the love of books and of reading. Our home has always been filled with books and my children have inherited my love of reading, for which I am thankful.
Reading is an excellent way to learn. It is important to recognize that reading to learn is different from reading for entertainment only.
There are several things we can can do to learn more from our reading.
1. We can choose our reading material wisely.
2. We can plan a regular time for reading.
3. We can have a definite objective in reading.
4. We can take notes as we read.
5. We can discuss the ideas that we gain.
When we discuss what we have read with others it helps us to remember what we have read. It also helps us to understand the subject more clearly.
Book groups are a great way to consider others' points of view about books and about life. It's a way to explore different ideas and pursue what the author is trying to convey. What a great way to learn in a relaxed, social atmosphere!
Doctrine & Covenants 130:19 states "If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." Let us all strive to learn while we are here on earth.
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And here are a few of Sharon's favorite reads for adults. Check them out!
The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Mitford series - Jan Karon
Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Timeline - Richard Crichton
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maude Montgomery
All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot
Harry Potter series - J. K. Rowling
Authors:
Jodi Picoult
Dean Koontz
James Michener
Jeffrey Archer
David Baldacci
R. F. Delderfield
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I have always loved to read. What a great way to escape, learn and become somebody else. When I was a young girl, my girlfriend and I would walk to the library every Saturday (up and down hills - it seemed a long way). I always had an overwhelming desire to read all the books in the library. (My favorite scene in "Beauty and the Beast" is when the Beast gives Belle the library. Imagine a room full of books - floor to ceiling!)
As a mother, I think one of the best things we can give our children is the love of books and of reading. Our home has always been filled with books and my children have inherited my love of reading, for which I am thankful.
Reading is an excellent way to learn. It is important to recognize that reading to learn is different from reading for entertainment only.
There are several things we can can do to learn more from our reading.
1. We can choose our reading material wisely.
2. We can plan a regular time for reading.
3. We can have a definite objective in reading.
4. We can take notes as we read.
5. We can discuss the ideas that we gain.
When we discuss what we have read with others it helps us to remember what we have read. It also helps us to understand the subject more clearly.
Book groups are a great way to consider others' points of view about books and about life. It's a way to explore different ideas and pursue what the author is trying to convey. What a great way to learn in a relaxed, social atmosphere!
Doctrine & Covenants 130:19 states "If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." Let us all strive to learn while we are here on earth.
-------------------------
And here are a few of Sharon's favorite reads for adults. Check them out!
The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Mitford series - Jan Karon
Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Timeline - Richard Crichton
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maude Montgomery
All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot
Harry Potter series - J. K. Rowling
Authors:
Jodi Picoult
Dean Koontz
James Michener
Jeffrey Archer
David Baldacci
R. F. Delderfield
Monday, September 13, 2010
Reading you will love
This week's post is brought to us by Shauna C. Read on and enjoy her insights and great style. Thanks for your contribution, Shauna!
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When I was very small there was a story book purge at my home. Two piles were made; books that were loved and books that were not. Each pile was sorted into a black plastic garbage bag. One bag was thrown out, one bag was kept, the wrong one. Every book that had been most loved and cherished by both the reader and the listener was now in the garbage. And I, the sixth child, was left with the books nobody wanted.
Fast forward to about fourth grade, I could read. I was very good at it, I read the closed captioning on the T.V. (I have a deaf brother) I read the cereal boxes and the soup cans. I read it all. I didn’t like any of it. I told my sister I hated to read, which was like uttering blasphemy in my house. Instead of arguing with me she looked at the books my teacher had me reading and declared that I was right, they sucked. Then she took me to the bookshelf in her bedroom. I found reading magic in the pages of Trixie Belden. I literally felt that Trixie was a great friend. As many of you know, I now read quite a lot. Okay, so I make my family crazy.
The trick was finding something I could love. The books my teachers wanted me to read probably had their own value, but until I could find something I loved to read I couldn’t enjoy the act of reading itself. That is such an important part of unlocking the code. Last year Fiona hated to read. It was hard and not at all fun. I tried, but it just wasn’t working and both of our frustrations were poisoning the experience. So I kept trying, that’s when we found Ivy and Bean. And that was that. A couple weeks later as she walked through the kitchen with a book in hand AJ said “she’s going to be as bad as you.” With a smile I told him “I hope so.”
Cracking the code, for your children, or yourselves, can be tricky. The key is to keep looking, there’s so much out there. There’s this idea that it has to be the “right” kind of book. The right kind is the kind that you like. If you like to read YA (as I do) there’s nothing that says you can’t. If your child doesn’t get into books without pictures fine, there’s a ton of Graphic Novels and Manga. Shannon Hale (writer) has a great article about this on her blog here. Then, in her next blog post she lists some of their families favorite graphic novels here.
Part of helping a child learn to love it is reading out loud to them. I have felt that spell that can fall on a room full of children as they wait to hear the story unfold. It’s a hush with an electric kind of tension. Another blog I follow, “A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing” has an article that discusses a fMRI study stating that the reader and listeners brain waves show the same patterns as a story is read. Click here to read the article.
A fascinating quote from the article states: “Some regions in the listener's brain actually predicted the speaker's activity, as if the listener was anticipating parts of the story. Later tests of listener comprehension support this. The more predictive activity in a listener’s brain, the better she scored on comprehension questions after the experiment.”
I’ll let you take from that what you will as there are many interesting things to be gleaned from the article. I experienced this in my daughter’s class at school last week. I could see the children mouthing the words they knew would come next, even the squirmiest kids watching my face, listening intently. The whole room had been woven into a spell and held their breath to find out if The Gingerbread Girl would meet the same fate as the Gingerbread Boy. And the trick to winding up in a satisfying way? Slow it down. Slow it way down. Just at the end. Wanting more is great, expecting more and not getting it is no fun at all. Slowing down the 2nd to last sentence lets the child know they’re almost at the end. Slowing down the very last sentence to the point that you’re practically stopping let’s the child savor it all. Every. Last. Tasty. Word.
---------------------------------
Thanks again, Shauna! To piggy-back off her comments, here are the top ten authors named by all of YOU as your favorites for young children:
Authors: One of the Books They Have Written:
Stan and Jan Berenstain The Berenstain Bears
Felicia Bond If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Eric Carle The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Bobby Lynn and John R. Maslen BOB Books
Mercer Mayer Little Critter books
Jane O'Connor Fancy Nancy Books
Noel Streatfeild Ballet Shoes
Mo Willems Knuffle Bunny
Karma Wilson Bear Wants More
Jane Yolen How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Also check out Usborne books and the DK Discovery Series! Stay tuned for our early reader recommendations coming soon. And please leave a post with more of your favorites!
-----------------------------------------------------------
When I was very small there was a story book purge at my home. Two piles were made; books that were loved and books that were not. Each pile was sorted into a black plastic garbage bag. One bag was thrown out, one bag was kept, the wrong one. Every book that had been most loved and cherished by both the reader and the listener was now in the garbage. And I, the sixth child, was left with the books nobody wanted.
Fast forward to about fourth grade, I could read. I was very good at it, I read the closed captioning on the T.V. (I have a deaf brother) I read the cereal boxes and the soup cans. I read it all. I didn’t like any of it. I told my sister I hated to read, which was like uttering blasphemy in my house. Instead of arguing with me she looked at the books my teacher had me reading and declared that I was right, they sucked. Then she took me to the bookshelf in her bedroom. I found reading magic in the pages of Trixie Belden. I literally felt that Trixie was a great friend. As many of you know, I now read quite a lot. Okay, so I make my family crazy.
The trick was finding something I could love. The books my teachers wanted me to read probably had their own value, but until I could find something I loved to read I couldn’t enjoy the act of reading itself. That is such an important part of unlocking the code. Last year Fiona hated to read. It was hard and not at all fun. I tried, but it just wasn’t working and both of our frustrations were poisoning the experience. So I kept trying, that’s when we found Ivy and Bean. And that was that. A couple weeks later as she walked through the kitchen with a book in hand AJ said “she’s going to be as bad as you.” With a smile I told him “I hope so.”
Cracking the code, for your children, or yourselves, can be tricky. The key is to keep looking, there’s so much out there. There’s this idea that it has to be the “right” kind of book. The right kind is the kind that you like. If you like to read YA (as I do) there’s nothing that says you can’t. If your child doesn’t get into books without pictures fine, there’s a ton of Graphic Novels and Manga. Shannon Hale (writer) has a great article about this on her blog here. Then, in her next blog post she lists some of their families favorite graphic novels here.
Part of helping a child learn to love it is reading out loud to them. I have felt that spell that can fall on a room full of children as they wait to hear the story unfold. It’s a hush with an electric kind of tension. Another blog I follow, “A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing” has an article that discusses a fMRI study stating that the reader and listeners brain waves show the same patterns as a story is read. Click here to read the article.
A fascinating quote from the article states: “Some regions in the listener's brain actually predicted the speaker's activity, as if the listener was anticipating parts of the story. Later tests of listener comprehension support this. The more predictive activity in a listener’s brain, the better she scored on comprehension questions after the experiment.”
I’ll let you take from that what you will as there are many interesting things to be gleaned from the article. I experienced this in my daughter’s class at school last week. I could see the children mouthing the words they knew would come next, even the squirmiest kids watching my face, listening intently. The whole room had been woven into a spell and held their breath to find out if The Gingerbread Girl would meet the same fate as the Gingerbread Boy. And the trick to winding up in a satisfying way? Slow it down. Slow it way down. Just at the end. Wanting more is great, expecting more and not getting it is no fun at all. Slowing down the 2nd to last sentence lets the child know they’re almost at the end. Slowing down the very last sentence to the point that you’re practically stopping let’s the child savor it all. Every. Last. Tasty. Word.
---------------------------------
Thanks again, Shauna! To piggy-back off her comments, here are the top ten authors named by all of YOU as your favorites for young children:
Authors: One of the Books They Have Written:
Stan and Jan Berenstain The Berenstain Bears
Felicia Bond If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Eric Carle The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Bobby Lynn and John R. Maslen BOB Books
Mercer Mayer Little Critter books
Jane O'Connor Fancy Nancy Books
Noel Streatfeild Ballet Shoes
Mo Willems Knuffle Bunny
Karma Wilson Bear Wants More
Jane Yolen How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Also check out Usborne books and the DK Discovery Series! Stay tuned for our early reader recommendations coming soon. And please leave a post with more of your favorites!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Reading and Learning Together
It's been a great two months learning about so many different topics. Thanks so much to all our contributors!
Now we're going to switch gears a bit and focus on finding the fun in reading and learning together. Whether it be with a book group, children, spouses, friends, or otherwise, reading is such a wonderful way to build relationships, share experiences, learn, and create memories. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks! And yes, we will still have special guest contributors... and weekly treats. :) So stay tuned!
To get us started, here's a thought from The Family: A Proclamation to the World:
Whenever I've read that section in the past, I must admit I've considered games and sports and other activities, but did you ever think about the beauty of shared reading? With our busy schedules, it really can be difficult, but I challenge you to find some time for reading in your home and with friends. Here's a final thought I love from President Monson:
Take a few minutes to read the whole article: Hallmarks of a Happy Home. I love the idea of a library of learning. Let's try to make it a hallmark of our own homes... see you next week!
*One small item of business: Today I handed out bookmarks to everyone as a fun reminder to enjoy reading and "let literacy light up your life"! If you were out of town or didn't get one, please let me know! I made a new batch.
Now we're going to switch gears a bit and focus on finding the fun in reading and learning together. Whether it be with a book group, children, spouses, friends, or otherwise, reading is such a wonderful way to build relationships, share experiences, learn, and create memories. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks! And yes, we will still have special guest contributors... and weekly treats. :) So stay tuned!
To get us started, here's a thought from The Family: A Proclamation to the World:
Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities [emphasis added].
Whenever I've read that section in the past, I must admit I've considered games and sports and other activities, but did you ever think about the beauty of shared reading? With our busy schedules, it really can be difficult, but I challenge you to find some time for reading in your home and with friends. Here's a final thought I love from President Monson:
Happy homes come in a variety of appearances. Some feature large families with father, mother, brothers, and sisters living together in a spirit of love. Others consist of a single parent with one or two children, while other homes have but one occupant. There are, however, identifying features which are to be found in a happy home, whatever the number or description of its family members. I refer to these as “Hallmarks of a Happy Home.” They consist of:
1. A pattern of prayer.
2. A library of learning.
3. A legacy of love.
4. A treasury of testimony.
Take a few minutes to read the whole article: Hallmarks of a Happy Home. I love the idea of a library of learning. Let's try to make it a hallmark of our own homes... see you next week!
*One small item of business: Today I handed out bookmarks to everyone as a fun reminder to enjoy reading and "let literacy light up your life"! If you were out of town or didn't get one, please let me know! I made a new batch.
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