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BOOK TIME FOR THE FAMILY
A Teacher's Kit for Implementing A Family Reading Program Michelle Brewer and Edward Francisco Paper, $15.95 80 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", 435-X June 1998 |
Getting families to read together is one of the best things you can
do as a teacher. Family reading improves academic performance dramatically
but that's not the end of it. Family reading turns family members and teachers
into true partners in the educational process. And family reading allows
children to explore their emotions and raise their concerns in the environment
where it matters most: the home. This brings families closer together and
produces healthier children. The authors call this process "bibliocounseling."
They have tested it in their own schools. With this clear and concise resource
book, you can create a Book Time partnership in your community. Book
Time for the Family shows you how to get started, how to get parents
involved, how to set up a class library, and how to keep them reading.
Michelle Brewer is a classroom teacher and a school counselor at
Chilhowee Intermediate School in Knoxville, Tennessee. She received her
bachelor's degree from Tennessee Technological University and her master's
degree from Carson-Newman College.
Edward Francisco is associate professor of English and writer in
residence at Pellissippi State College in Tennessee. He received his degrees
from the University of Tennessee. They regularly present workshops on the
Book Time concept.
Table of Contents
IntroductionSection 1: Book Time for the Family
- 30 Minutes Can Make the Difference of a Lifetime
- Book Time for the Family: A Habit of Sharing
- Commitment
- Benefits
- Planning Suggestions
- Contact with Parents
- Student Questionnaire
- Parent Meeting
- Parent Conference (Parent Questionnaire)
- The Contract
- Parent Workshop
- How and Where to Obtain Books
- Setting Up the Class Library
- The Class Librarians
- Daily Reading Response Logs
- Phone Calls
- Reminder Notes
- Incentives
- Rewards
Section 6: Developmental Issues and Suggested Reading
Works Cited
Foreword
The act of reading is a crucial part of any educational curriculum at any grade level. Although debates over reading often center on the particular books that should be read, hardly anyone questions the instructional and moral value of reading itself. What is often missing is a framework that articulates the purpose for reading. Ms. Brewer and Mr. Francisco's book utilizes the concept of bibliocounseling, a technique which, in its broadest application, allows children to explore their own ideas, emotions, and concerns. As they note in their introduction, the authors see that stories can be used by teachers as "opportunities of revelation, [for] in responding to stories, children reveal their most intimate problems, anxieties, fears, and hopes."Bibliocounseling structures the act of reading so that children are not alone. By involving parents and family members daily, bibliocounseling establishes a consistent, meaningful dialogue centered on reading. Educational research shows that children's interest in school is strengthened when school activities are integrated into their home life and supported by their parents. Furthermore, research supports the notion that interest and intellectual functioning are highly correlated. This book draws on these educational principles and provides a very clear and interesting format by which the act of reading becomes symbiotically bound to both school and home.
The materials provided in this book could be used to develop the children's interest in stories and books, no matter what is being read. By focusing on particular kinds of stories, however, the book also addresses important psychological principles from developmental psychology. Most developmental theories stress that a child's emotional and intellectual growth proceeds through a series of stages. Each stage centers on a developmental issue or crisis, which must be resolved successfully if a child is to develop normally. Each crisis often produces fear and anxiety in the child; a successful resolution often involves the child and his or her parents confronting the source of anxiety and fear and helping the child develop a safe passage, so to speak, through these emotional difficulties. Bibliocounseling provides a very useful technique to help parents and children develop this safe passage. By providing a thirty-minute period each day, bibliocounseling allows parents and children to use the issues that characters confront in stories to discuss, articulate, and even alleviate their own concerns. This type of consistent, caring connection has been found to strengthen a child's character and provide resources that can be utilized throughout his or her life.
Teachers will find Book Time for the Family a useful supplement to their reading activities, parents will be surprised at how it makes reading rewarding, and children will be excited to understand that it suggests that stories do not live solely on the printed page.
Michael W. Smith, PhD
Adjunct Professor/Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
President, TESTPrep, Inc.
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