<

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, (Insert Dates Here), and be it further

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

Adopted by The Bookworm Broadcast
September 28, 2009
Anniston, Alabama

I found this fascinating quote today:

Back to School shopping is a great time to talk money with your kids. They have things they *need* and things they *want*, which presents you with an open door to talk about the differences and how to manage the family budget and why sometimes they $30 shoes get bought instead of the $130 shoes.terrapin719, Just Not Martha, Aug 2009

You should read the whole article.

I found a fun site today via Twitter that I bet your kids will just love! And it may just crack them up, too! It’s called WhoPooped.org and while you are there, you can learn some fun facts about poop. And guess what else? When you’re done learning all the cool poop stuff, you will be a real-life, bonafide Poop Expert! It’s true! Look, here is my certificate:

Haha! How cool is that? Now what kid wouldn’t just love that? I bet they didn’t get any end-of-the-school-year certificates like that!

And then once you have your super groovy Poopcertificate, you can meet the Experts at the Minnesota Zoo. I’ve actually embedded the video right here on my blog for you:

You can visit the Minnesota Zoo Channel on YouTube and see all kinds of cool animal videos!

Have fun earning your Poopcertificate!!

Image by Tie Guy II via Flickr

This is a really super cool activity that will help kids with reading AND science! I would love to do this with my own name – so much fun! Gardening is such a fun activity to do with your kids and it provides so many learning opportunities, but, this is a very unique way that it can help your child with his/her reading skills! I love it!

From the site:

Kindergarteners spend hours and hours reading, writing and exploring the sounds in their own names, and in those of their classmates. Teachers love to use names to help reinforce key skills in early reading instruction… and parents can help!

Seriously, this looks like a lot of fun! Go there now: Activities : Plant Your Name with Seeds!

I found this activity – written by Julie Williams – on Education.com

You have got to see this video – it’s truly amazing! It is an undersea volcano erupting!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Wasn’t that incredible? Interesting that it happens now, when tons of school kids around the United States are busy preparing their own volcanoes for their Science Fair projects.

Now I know you guys have heard of Steve Spangler and other science guys erupting Coke with Mentos candies. But did you know that a lot of kids are actually making their volcanoes erupt with Coke and Mentos. I just learned that recently. It’s cool, because, mixing Coke and Mentos is so. much. fun. But it’s kind of sad, because, it’s so much fun when our kids partake in the very same activities we did when we were kids!

I actually thought I might get some Coke and Mentos for my kids for some Spring Break fun. Hey – if it would tear them away from video games and the internet for even a little while, it would totally be worth it!

Big ‘ol hat-tip to JustJulie and 408Down for this post!

Image via Wikipedia

I absolutely love this – Steve Spangler and his friend, Harmony Conger, are combining three very cool things for a great activity to do with your kids! It’s a wonderful mix of:

VALENTINES DAY + SCIENCE + CRAFTS = FUN, FUN, FUN!!

And the cool thing is, the kids get to learn some science while they’re being super creative! They learn about acids and bases! I’m telling you – learning about science is fun! Either it’s gotten a LOT better since I was a kid or I just had my head in the sand! Whatever is true, I’m just glad it’s so great these days! My daughter actually says that science is her FAVORITE subject! To me, that’s a SCORE – big time!!

Steve is sharing his fun and learning all over the web, which this internet-crazy mama thinks is GRRRREAT! You can read his blog right here: Steve Spangler Blog and he is even on Twitter!! Click here: Steve on Twitter – and say Hello! to him yourself!

I found the most wonderful blog today, via Twitter!

Welcome to NCS-Tech!

There was so much good stuff on there that I felt like a kid in a candy store! There was a very helpful post about how educators can get Google Earth PRO for FREE – and I’ve already emailed that post to our technology guy in our school district.

I’ll come make this post prettier and the like – I just didn’t want to lose track of this awesome blog!

Every parent wants the best start for their children in this life – whether it’s in what we’re able to give them that we didn’t have, or even the type of education they receive. This is also true for the start we give them when it comes to reading.

Studies have proven that children who learn to read at an earlier age have an easier time in school, and are twice as likely to complete levels of higher education than those who struggle to learn at a later age. Here are some of the best things you can do to help your child become an early reader – giving them a head start on school and in life:


Start Young

There’s no age that is too young to start trying to raise an early reader. As soon as your child arrives you can start introducing them to reading both by reading to them, as well as through the use of brightly colored flash cards which have the letters of the alphabet on them.

It’s even been proven that using one of the many popular phonics learning programs available to teach (verbally) phonics to your infant can help them to better recognize letters and words later on.

Read to Them

Although you’ve probably heard it a thousand times, it’s important that you understand what an impact reading to your child will have on them becoming an early reader. A child who is read to at least once a day is twice as likely to become an early reader than those who are read to less frequently.

It’s also a good idea to teach your child how to follow along with the words by placing your finger under each word as you read it. However, when doing this, it’s important that you take the time to sound out each word as you read; otherwise your child may learn to read by memorization only.

Be Consistent

Another important thing to remember if you want to raise an early reader is to be consistent. Reading to your child once in a while, or sounding out words on an infrequent basis won’t give them the foundation they need to become early readers. You absolutely must maintain a consistent reading schedule with your children if you want them to learn young.

Make It Fun

Above all else, if you want to raise an early reader – make sure your child has fun. A child who is forced to read, or forced to read things they don’t find interesting will rebel against the learning process.

Choose books that are interesting to your child, and even let him or her be a part of the choosing process. Make the reading process fun by showing them how much you enjoy it, and remember not to be too demanding that they learn.

Overall, raising an early reader isn’t nearly as difficult as many people would have you to believe. Keep in mind the fact that reading is supposed to be an enjoyable process, and make it a special time between you and your child and you’ll find that raising your child to be an early reader is easier than you ever thought possible!

I’ve talked here at The Bookworm Broadcast about how much I love the book, “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” and how excited I was (cautiously) that it was made into a television cartoon. There definitely was potential there, with all the goofy stories! As a bookworm, though, I have to admit it did make me nervous. As a perfect example of the way I feel about this, my town library once had a sign up that said, “Never judge a book by its movie”. I shared with you that I was pretty pleased with this book-into-TV transition. And I’m hopeful that at least some kids will be intrigued enough with the show to want to read the books! I can hope, right? Hey – I’ve always been that way – if I really, really like a movie/show, I want to read the book!

The basic story of this book is that The Wayside School was accidentally built 30 stories tall, with one classroom per floor, instead of one story tall, with 30 classrooms. The builder’s felt really bad about it and apologized a whole lot! On each floor of the building, in each classroom, is another crazy class – with another wacky tale to tell.

The main character, Todd, goes to school on the 30th floor and at recess time, he has to hurry as fast as he can to get down to the bottom floor, so that he can get one of the cherished playground balls from the janitor. It is first-come-first-serve and it’s hard to make it down all thirty floors quickly!

Todd’s teacher, Mrs. Jewl, not only allows the students to sleep – she encourages it! And when he tries to hand in his homework, he winds up in trouble – he gets detention or has to ride the kindergarten bus home!

The wackiness just goes on and on! So, while I definitely wondered if Wayside – The Cartoon could possibly measure up to the book, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised! They’ve added some things and taken some things out and it is, for sure, a different experience than the book. It is tons of fun, though! And the cool thing is that it is great fun for the whole family to watch! It is one of those cartoons that everyone in your family, no matter their age, will enjoy!

Wayside School: Season One definitely gets this bookworm’s seal of approval!

And just to appeal to my book-lovin’ heart, they actually included a copy of Sideways Stories from Wayside School with the DVD! Now, how cool is that?