SNEAK PEEK: LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ

I am a HUGE fan of Shelley Harwayne. She is the person whose work keeps me grounded in what is right for children. I have been a fan since before she became principal of The Manhattan New School in NYC and before she wrote LASTING IMPRESSIONS, GOING PUBLIC, and others. Shelley ALWAYS makes decisions that are best for children.

Anyone who has heard Shelley Harwayne speak to teachers in the last several years, knows that she is now a grandmother. Being a grandmother has Shelley thinking and learning about early childhood education. She has learned much from her grandchildren that she shares with us in her upcoming professional book LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ.

In this upcoming book, Shelley does what she does best and reminds us all of the things that are best for children. This time, she takes a hard look at what parents, grandparents, day care workers--anyone who spends time with young children--can do to support literacy development in ways that make sense for the child.

LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ is a huge resource for parents and teachers. Shelley talks about many things that are important in literacy development and gives authentic ideas for working with children age 0-6. She includes thoughts about reading aloud, rhyming, the alphabet, singing, writing, sight vocabulary, and more.

The book is also filled with great booklists--favorite read alouds specific to age groups. Shelley includes titles of books that will be loved by young children and recommends both fiction and nonfiction.

It is so nice to see someone who knows literacy and learning so well give us a book that focuses on this important time in a child's development. With these high-stakes times, many parents are buying crazy programs for even our youngest children. Shelley reminds us that the most authentic literacy experiences are the ones that are important.

This is a great new resource for teachers of Pre-K through 1. But is is also a great addition to any baby gift. It will be a book that parents will go back to over the first 6 years of their child's life--finding new books and new ways to help their young children fall in love with reading.

Keep your eye out for this one from Scholastic in July!