The Cat in the Hat

If you don't teach young children, you may not be aware that Dr. Seuss' birthday is March 2nd. Luckily, I am a shaper of young minds and therefore, know such things. This is why I decided that this month in my classroom was really going to focus on reading and books. (Even more than usual!)

Of course, when most people think of Dr. Seuss, they think of The Cat in the Hat. We decided to start the month off with a bang by reading this classic, even though I thought it was too long for my preschoolers VERY short attention spans. Much to my surprise, they loved it and hung on every word! This doesn't happen very often for a lot of the kids in my classroom...many of them are rarely read to and have little appreciation for or interest in books. Since Monday, we have also read other Dr. Seuss books like Hop on Pop and There's a Wocket in My Pocket! I'm so happy that the kids seem to be picking up on all the rhyme from the stories. Honestly, I have never been a huge Seuss fan, but after this week, I'm jumping on the train because my classes love the books....and they're learning from them too!

We have been working on an art project this week to display in the hallway. Here's how it turned out:

"Spring into reading with Dr. Seuss!"

A close-up of some of the cats!

And yes, we did make "springs" out of pipe cleaners!

Reading Magic

I am reading yet another wonderful book that I wanted to share with you. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox is all about the importance of reading aloud to children.

Here are a few interesting points that I took from the book:

** Experts say that on average, a child needs to hear a thousand stories read aloud before they are ready to begin reading. (This sounds like a lot, but reading just three stories a day easily covers a thousand books. You could read the same book three times, or try reading a favorite book, a familiar book and a new book).

**It is important to allow a child to talk back about what you read. As you read, make comments and ask questions about the plot, characters and pictures to engage the child in conversation.

**Read to your child from all sorts of print: signs, cereal boxes, newspapers, catalogs...

**Reading to a child from birth can help to increase a child's attention span. Children who are never read to have a hard time sitting through an entire story because they do not have the required listening skills or desire. (Look at the kids in my class if you don't believe me!! You can tell which children have been read to which haven't!)

Some of the topics in this book seem common sense, but maybe that's the teacher in me! I'm sure there are many parents who don't know how to make the most of the time they spend reading with their child. Reading aloud WELL is a skill you have to work at, so any one can benefit from practice. I would highly recommend this book to any parent or teacher. It's easy to read and well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I feel that I learned some valuable information from it.