Hi y’all!

Stevie here. A mini vacation to the southern states took me away from my blog, and also inspired the greeting. The book I’m reading called The Heart’s Code by Paul Pearsall Ph.D, still has me amazed. There is an ongoing theme in this book about the brain and the heart, and it got me thinking about the last years of my career as a teacher, and the focus on research of how the brain works. This research lead to a different way of teaching math and literacy. For some reason, the changed math curriculum did not bother me and actually lead me to reading more about the brain myself. The curriculum became scripted, and made it easier to teach and score data.

When it came to literacy the curriculum changed in the same way. It became all about decoding words because of research done about how the brain functions. And also scripted, but not easier for me to teach or even know if my students could read independently. The time allotted to this new curriculum made it almost impossible to get my favorite books read to the children.

So this is where I stand on my soapbox in favor of a love of reading. I believe that this love for books has to be instilled in children, by modeling (I always had a book on my table that I was reading, which is now in my purse just in case). Also, by allowing time for littles to not only choose books that interest them for whatever reason, but also read them, and talk about why they did. That time got compromised in our busy busy day, and made me sad.

I understand the brain is essential in learning to read, but I want to give the heart that same importance, if not more. If a child has a love of reading books in his or her heart, nothing is going to stop them from seeking more and more. The learning then becomes authentic and a part of who they are and will become in the future.