Just took a look at the list of finalists for the 2016 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and was delighted to find these books on the list. They are great books to consider for your middle school sons! "Booked" by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt): This novel-in-verse tells the story of 12 year old Nick, a soccer-loving middle [...]
Summer is almost here! But along with summer fun comes summer slide, the learning loss that occurs when children do no educational activity during the summer months of no school. That loss is real: studies show that most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Experts also agree that [...]
Now is the time to focus on your sons' summer reading plans. If you have an avid reader, make time to stop at the library or the book store and pick up some fun books for the summer. If your son would rather do almost anything other than read, then you will need to give him some incentive to [...]
NYC educator Alvin Irby is the founder of Barbershop Books, a New York City–based project that puts child friendly reading nooks and a variety of fun and engaging books into neighborhood barbershops, so young Black boys are encouraged to read while they wait for a haircut. With Barbershop Books Irby seeks to connect Black men to Black boys’ early [...]
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international economic organization of 34 countries, has recently released the results of its global study of gender equality in education, and the news is not good for boys: they are "significantly more likely" than girls to be less engaged with school and have poor academic achievement. The OECD suggests several [...]
Last night's Grammys were full of interesting performances and surprising wins (Beck, what?). No doubt your sons are familiar with many of the winners. But one Grammy award they might not have focused on deserves their attention: The 2015 Grammy (Children’s Album) was awarded to Neela Vaswani for her narration of I AM MALALA: HOW ONE GIRL STOOD UP [...]
Remember "Reading Rainbow"? That delightful children's series which encouraged reading, hosted by LeVar Burton and aired on PBS from 1983-2009? Burton has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise one million dollars to create an online version to expand the program's reach. When Reading Rainbow went off the air in 2009 Burton bought the rights to the show and [...]
Common Sense Media has recently issued a report on children, teens and reading. While the report found here has some good news about children and reading, some of its findings relating to boys of color are particularly troubling. First, the good news: Reading is still a big part of many children's lives. Young children read or are read to [...]
As finals and other year end tests approach, pass on to your sons these tips for effective studying: Find a Good Study Spot: Identify a place in your home which will be the designated study spot for tests and quizzes. Make sure it is free from clutter and distraction, and is away from noise and activity. Review the Main [...]
Celebrated children's and young adult book author Walter Dean Myers has a great essay asking "Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books?" in this past Sunday's New York Times. In his essay, found here, Myers responds to a recent report that only 93 of the 3,200 children's books published in 2013 were about African Americans. He describes [...]