Cameron was an amazing little girl who died on January 19, 2006. She was truly one of the most precious people to ever walk this earth. As her parents, we will never be able to express the loss we feel now that Cameron is gone. The Thousand Hour Club
April 28th, 2007 by GrAnn-Ma
Make your child a member of the thousand hour club by the time he or she goes to school. Marilyn Jager Adams estimates that among families who routinely read stories to their children, the lucky children spend from 1000 to 1700 hours in one-to-one literacy activities before they enter school. There is no way for a teacher to make up this time for children with no storybook routines, no magnetic letters, and no pencils.
The advantages are many:
- They will be familiar with book language. Where else but in books can you hear phrases like “said Father”? Books have a way of talking that sounds very strange to the ear of the child who has not been read to.
- Their vocabularies will increase. As they hear a wide variety of words used in stories, interesting words will begin to creep into their spoken vocabularies.
- Their attention spans will lengthen. As children are read to, they will be able to sit and listen for longer and longer periods of time. This is voluntary attention, as opposed to attention given to the TV screen, which pulls children in with rapidly changing sights and sounds. Voluntary attention is critical to success in school.
- They will develop a love of books as they associate them with a warm, comfortable relationship with the most important person in their lives–YOU!
Posted in GrAnn- Ma's Corner |
April 28th, 2007 at 10:12 am
This is great, Mom!
May 1st, 2007 at 7:11 am
Ann, Susan, Derrick,
This is really good. I’m so glad my kids are members. Thank you all for encouraging me to keep reading to my kids (even to Caroline when she refused to listen!) Now she will listen to chapter books with no pictures and she’s only 4! I love that my kids love to be read to and to read on their own. I will never forget Cameron reading that Barbie book at Thanksgiving. I was blown away that she could do that at such an early age! That just proves your point. She must have had more than a thousand hours in one-on-one reading! I miss her so much.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Ann,
This is so good! I actually just copied it and printed it to put on the table, as we are holding pre-k enrollment today! What a great thing for parents to take home to read,think about and put into practice before they send us their babies.
It is through our greatest tragedies that God uses us to touch so many lives and your family is no exception. I am so thankful for the fruit of Cameron’s life. She is touching so many through the work your family is doing. God bless you and your family.
Kelli