EduCenter

  Why should we keep reading aloud to kids even when they can already "read on their own?"  This talk demonstrates the magic of read aloud and reminds us all why reading aloud is so essential- at school and at home. This talk is for parents and teachers who want to teach comprehension and connect with kids in powerful ways.  Key Words: magic of reading aloud reading comprehension connecting with kids reading aloud demonstration powerful  parents  teachers  Rebecca Bellingham is an Instructor in the Literacy Specialist Program at Columbia University Teachers College. She has been teaching in some capacity for 18 years.  Rebecca draws upon her experience and love of theater to help teachers and graduate students connect with their "inner artist" and teach in more effective, powerful, and joyful ways.  This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/ted...

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Maimonides (1138-1204)      Independence is a problem when 55% of young adults in the U.S., between ages 18-34, are still financially dependent on their parents. That is more than half! As a teacher and director of child development centers for over a decade, I've encountered children who were about to transition to kindergarten without being able to dress themselves, pour milk into a cup, or even string an intelligible sentence together. It's not because these children aren't capable, but they haven't been given the time and training to develop those skills due to impatience or enabling. This has been called learned helplessness. Before the advent of public education, children would work as farm hands and operate machinery in factories as young as five or six, meanwhile our progressive five-year-olds cannot even tie their own shoes. I'm not advocating for child...