Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests

Stephen Krashen: Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests (May 10, 2010) Teacher Magazine.

Krashen is a professor emeritus at USC and a regarded authority children, literacy and language development. This recent article explains his views on school reform and how poverty affects children. Years of research shows that poverty poorly affects students' scores and academic achievement. One of the points that stands out in this article is this one regarding access to books: "children of poverty have very little access to books at home and in their communities, with less access to good public libraries and bookstores. Once again, school is not helping: Children of poverty attend schools with poorly supported classroom libraries and school libraries. Studies confirm that less access to books means lower reading achievement, which makes sense in view of findings that show that self-selected reading is a powerful predictor of reading achievement." He indicates that schools need to provide improved classroom and school libraries, in addition to food and health care. How could I not agree more with the need for (improvd) libraries.

Stephen D. Krashen website

The Truth About Tweens

The Truth About Tweens (10/19/1999) Newsweek

Although this article is over ten years old, it provides good information about psychological changes during the tween years and gives parents insights and tips on body changes, sexuality, school, and friends.

It's fun to read the "Guide to Who's Hot", to see what was popular with tweens in 1998; including TV shows and clothing brands, heart throbs, spending money, magazines, influential sources, and what tweens want to know.

The article made me wonder if this was the introduction to the term "tweens" and what has been learned about this group since 1999.