The Median Sib

As part of my job as a reading specialist, I am starting a school literary magazine. This week we’ve had a school-wide contest to name it. The names submitted by the children (kindergarten through fifth grade) have been good, crazy, random, and funny. Our school mascot is the hawk. So I’ve gotten submissions for Hawk Talk, The Hawk, etc. A couple of non-student suggestions have been “The Hawk Eye” and “The Hawk Squawk” - both of which I like. However, the name has to come from one of the children. Tomorrow morning is the deadline for entries. So by tomorrow the name will be decided.

Another feature of THE MEDIAN SIB is book recommendations. I read lots of children’s literature, and I read lots of professional literature - especially on reading, for teachers. I will share some books that I feel are particularly noteworthy. Some of the best books ever written are children’s books. AIRMAIL TO THE MOON by Tom Birdseye is one of my favorites. It offers humor that children and parents will appreciate, and it offers great examples of figurative language that teachers will love. I have frequently used this book for mini-lessons on figurative language with all grades.

As part of my job, I spend a lot of time working with parents about how to help their children read, how to make reading and learning more enjoyable for their children. I’ve also started my own consulting firm, CS Learning Consultants. (Note: If you want to learn more, visit our website at http://www.cslearningconsultants.com) CSLC has two branches. The first is tutoring - working with children on specific academic goals. The second branch is consulting - working with families to make their home a positive learning environment for their children. There is one thing that parents can do - regardless of the age of their children - that will make a positive lifelong impact. And that thing is TALKING! Talk to your children about their day at school. Tell them about your day. Ask questions that require more than one-word answers. Here are some suggestions: Tell me about the funniest thing that happened today. Tell me about a question you answered in class. Describe how you felt at the beginning of the day? Did you feel differently by the time school was out? It is quite amazing how much more children learn and how much more they enjoy learning when they have authentic conversations about it.

This is me - a photo taken in August 2004. I’m a Reading Specialist, and I love my job. I’ve loved reading since my first grade teacher, Mrs. Landrum, would put star stickers on our foreheads when we read well at school. I remember running out to the playground for recess proudly wearing my sticker! My children used to tease me that when I was reading a book, they could ask me anything, and my answer would be “yes” because I was so far into my reading that I didn’t hear anything else. And they were mostly right about that. There are few things as enjoyable as getting lost in a wonderful story.

I am blessed with my family: my daughter and her husband are the parents of my two granddaughters, who are the absolute loves of my life. My son and his wife round out my wonderful immediate family. I am blessed with such wonderful children. I will write about the rest of my family - my mother and my six siblings - at a later date.

My first post in my blog. I selected the title, “The Median Sib,” because I’m the middle of seven children. I have two older sisters and two younger sisters, along with one older brother and one younger brother. The title “The Middle Child” was already taken.

The purpose of this blog is to write about my family, my job, my friends, and my interactions and thoughts about them all.