Summer is here, and with it comes countless articles and recommendations for parents regarding the “summer slide.”
Just what is summer slide? It is the phenomenon in which children forget some of what they learned during the school year as they relax and play during the summer. Students supposedly lose an entire two months of reading and math skills over the summer. Continue reading “The Summer Slide: Fact, Fiction, and Differentiation”
A couple weeks ago I met with my daughter’s teacher for our end-of-year conference, and during the conference I asked her, what we should do this summer to prepare my daughter for next year. I was quickly reminded of the importance of play. Continue reading “The Importance of Play”
Coming Soon: A new kind of picture book for creative children.
Today, I released a short book trailer on YouTube, which is also now on the home page of my website.
Pablo Picasso once said, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain one as he grows up.”
The picture book I will release this fall is a celebration of children’s artistry and imagination. Children will be invited to draw, color, and imagine their own illustrations in The Nighttime Adventures of Calvin and Ollie.
The world’s largest library, the U.S. Library of Congress recently made a collection of historic children’s books publicly available online. These relics from the past, some of which are 100 years old, would likely not be viewed by children today, but now anyone can view these children’s books for free online. All of the books in the collection were published in England and the United States before 1924 and are no longer under copyright, meaning they can be enjoyed and shared by anyone. Continue reading “Children’s Literature Past and Present: What’s Changed?”
We’ve been living in Barcelona for a few months now, and we’re learning all the important things, like how to say “thank you,” “good morning,” and “doughnut” in Spanish and Catalan, that sandwiches are a breakfast food, and restaurants don’t serve dinner until it’s our bedtime. We’re also learning other important things like how to share toys and cookies at the park, what to do when someone throws sand on you, and what to do when you throw sand on someone else. Continue reading “Our Lives in Barcelona: Things We’ve Learned So far”
There are people who impact our lives in major ways with seemingly small actions. My kindergarten teacher is one of those people for me. Continue reading “On Becoming an Author”
