Literacy Tip #12 .: Developmental Milestones of Early Literacy / Part Four of Five :.

Photo credit :: The Graphics Fairy ::

Today's literacy tip is part four of a five-part series on children's early interaction with books, designed to optimize your reading time with your little, little one(s). It is adapted from research provided by Reach Out and Read, an excellent resource for early literacy intervention.


** Note: Please keep in mind that every child develops at his or her own rate. This chart is simply a reference and is not intended to be a substitute for a doctor's advice. **
 
 
If your child is 24 - 36 months of age, here are some instrumental motor and cognitive skills he or she is capable of demonstrating from a literacy perspective:

• learns to handle paper pages with care
• goes back and forth in books to find favorite pictures
• recites entire phrases, verbatim, from books; sometimes, even whole stories
• coordinates text with pictures
• corrects adult when reading aloud if a word is wrong
• reads familiar books to self

Here is what you can do to maximize reading time with your 24 - 36 month old child:

• continue using books in routines
• read, read, read at bedtime
• be willing to read the same story over and over
• ask "what's that?"
• relate books to child's life and experiences
• provide crayons and paper in order to stretch reading experiences

Here are some literature suggestions for your 24 - 36 month-old child:





 Enjoy this valuable reading time with your toddler!!!
 
Coming next Thursday :: Tips for reading time with your child who is 3 years and up ::

Wise Owl Wednesday #1 :: History of Censorship :: Part One

Graphic credit :: Shabby Blogs

** Welcome to my new weekly feature, Wise Owl Wednesday, where you can butter up your brain with some children's literature facts - history, milestones, trivia ... stop by here to learn a little something about the amazing world of books for the young! **

www.ala.org/bbooks

In honor of the upcoming Banned Books Week (Sept. 25 - Oct. 2, 2010), I thought I would share the history of literary censorship.  I hope you find it as interesting as I did!!

Milestones in the History of Censorship (Part One):

411 B.C. - Works of Protagoras were burned in Athens.
387 B.C. - Plato suggested censorship of Homer's The Odyssey for young readers.
168 B.C. - Jewish library in Jerusalem was ravished during the Maccabean uprising.
1st century - Augustus exiled poets and banned their works.
A.D. 303 - Diocletian condemned and burned all Christian books.

Source:  Through the Eyes of A Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature (5th Edition) by Donna E. Norton, copyright 1999 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Book Review (Revisited!) :: Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween?

**This book review is part of a post that was originally published on 08 June 2010.**

Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween?
Written by Jerry Pallotta

Illustrated by David Biedrzycki

Published by Scholastic, Inc.

Copyright 2007

"It's Halloween! I'm scared! I wonder who will haunt my house tonight?"

Summary:  A sweet little girl has an eventful night answering her door as the trick-or-treaters arrive...and she's receiving some scary visitors, such as werewolves, zombies, and witches! Yikes!

Mary Elizabeth's Musings:  This is definitely an enjoyable book to celebrate Halloween with your little, little ones! With easy prose to capture the attention of the very young, and stunning, colorful illustrations, you will find your children reaching for this book again and again for some frightful delights! The illustrations really make this book shine, due to their amazing, life-like images at the hand of David Biedrzycki. 

I would recommend this book for ages 1 1/2 - 5 years old.

What My Child Is Reading :: Week of 6 September 2010

I came across this wonderful meme, "What My Child Is Reading," over at my newest blogging discovery, Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns! Take a minute to peek inside this wonderful blog ... I know that I am super-thrilled to have found it!

Fall is most definitely in the "literature" air here in our little corner of the world! This is my favorite, favorite time of year, especially when sharing children's literature with my little ones. 

We can be found reading all manner of books about apples, school, fall, leaves, and Halloween!

Here are our latest picks:

Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween?

Written by Jerry Pallotta

Illustrated by David Biedrzycki

Publisher's Summary:  It's Halloween night.  While a mother is upstairs getting her daughter's costume ready, lost of trick-or-treaters stop by the house - from werewolves, ghosts, and zombies to witches, bats, dinosaurs, and more! But are they really ... real?

Let It Fall

Written and Illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Publisher's Summary:  Mounds of color, raked up high - jump right in and watch the sky.

One Smart Cookie:  Bite-Size Lessons for the School Years and Beyond

Written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Illustrated by Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer

Publisher's Summary:  One Smart Cookie offers a fresh batch of words that encompasses everything you might say to a child, whether it's the first day of preschool or the last day of high school.  Cookie-centric definitions range from wanting to know everything about cookies (curious) to thinking carefully about what kind of cookies to make for your friend (ponder).  This book mixes Amy Krouse Rosenthal's morsels of wisdom with the delicious illustrations of mother-daughter duo Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer.  This is one vocabulary list that will resonate well beyond the school years.

What have your children been reading lately??? I would love to know!!!