Celebrating National Read Across America Day!
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Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t heard of a Dr. Suess character such as The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax or wondered, can I really make green eggs and ham? Each year Dr. Seuss’ birthday is celebrated in conjunction with National Read Across America Day, a day that was established by the National Education Association in 1998 to get kids excited about reading. This year with so many children learning at home, the task will fall to parents to get their children excited about reading.
So how does a parent get a child excited about reading? One way is to read to them. Reading aloud to a child allows them to hear stories that they themselves may not be able to read on their own yet. Remember, a child’s listening comprehension exceeds their reading comprehension because listening skills appear first and so a child is able to comprehend the spoken word before they are able to read it on their own. Reading to a child increases their vocabulary, attention span and focus.
Recently it seems that Dr. Seuss books have come under great scrutiny and are being challenged. What we would like to remind parents is to take into consideration the year and time in history when any book is written. In the time that Dr. Seuss books were written, the world was a very different place socially and politically. History is not always pretty and PC but it’s what has made us who we are today. We feel it’s important to help children learn about and understand our history, warts and all. In order to move forward, we have to understand where we have been so don’t ignore our history and don’t alter it. Embrace all books and use them as an opportunity for open discussion and to impart your values. Take the time to conduct further research into that period of our history and look for non-fiction books as well to further understand and teach. Remember that today is going to be your children’s and their children’s history.
“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”
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AuthorWe are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children. Archives
March 2021
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