The Dayton Dragon’s and Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield sponsor a program that gives children in the Dayton region a once in a life time experience while they are in the midst of battling a serious medical condition. The program named The Anthem Home Run for Life gives the honoree ( A deserving kid)…
Print awareness is a broad term that includes the understanding that print has meaning, the knowledge of how to handle a book, and the idea that print is all around us. Print awareness is a really important pre-reading skill and is one that you can work on without too much effort as you read with…
With summer already underway, you may have started trying to figure out how you’re going to keep your kids interested in reading this summer. Here are some tips to encourage a summer full of reading: 1. Keep books everywhere—in the playroom, in the bedroom, in the car. The more accessible books are, the more they’ll get read….
The “summer slide” refers to what can happen to kids’ brains when they are idle during the summer months. Experts from the National Summer Learning Association estimate that the equivalent of about two month’s instruction time can be lost if children don’t keep their brains active during that break from school. Reading is a great…
I have many fond memories of my daughter growing up and one of the fondest is reading her a nightly bedtime story or two. Story time was our chance to bond without interruption. She would pick out a favorite book, hand it to me and then snuggle closely as I read to her. We sat…
When my niece, Charlie, was two years old, she got a huge alphabet mat for her playroom. Before getting the mat, she’d learned a few letters (C for Charlie, M for Mama, etc.), but within days of having it, she became obsessed with letters and learned them all. I’d like to think it’s because she’s inherited all…
My favorite team has lost and my brackets are busted (I think they were busted from the beginning). Although there are some games left to play, for me basketball season is over. To me and to many in Dayton the basketball season is a way of life, now that it’s over I have a case of…
Have you been to Carol Ann’s Carousel? Cincinnati’s Carol Ann’s Carousel celebrates its second birthday this year, and my family has visited countless times in the last few years. It’s something we do anytime we go downtown. This carousel is special; it’s not something you could just find anywhere. Build in Mansfield, OH, the carousel…
If you haven’t heard the big news, the Washington-Centerville Public Library has been awarded a $100,000 grant to teach kids and teens about financial literacy! The majority of the grant money has been used to create an interactive exhibit designed to teach kids and teens about earning, saving, and spending money. This exhibit, created with…
We’ve all heard the joke: what are the three best reasons to become a teacher? June, July, and August. And it’s funny because it’s (partly) true. This summer was my first real summer “off” with my kids, and I enjoyed it immensely. We took a vacation to Florida, visited parks and the library, and crammed…
