British children's on-screen reading overtakes books

For the first time British children are reading more on computers and other electronic devices than they are reading books, magazines, newspapers and comics, according to a study of nearly 35,000 youngsters.

For the first time, British children are reading more on computers and other electronic devices than they are reading books, magazines, newspapers and comics, according to a study of nearly 35,000 youngsters published Thursday.

Some 52 percent of children say they would rather read on electronic devices while only a third (32 percent) would rather read a hard copy, the National Literacy Trust said.

It added that the trend could be "detrimental" to children's reading and urged a "healthier reading balance" between books and electronic devices. Nearly all children have access to a computer at home and four out of 10 now own a tablet or a smartphone, said the trust, an independent charity promoting literacy.

The number of children reading e-books has doubled in the last two years, from six to 12 percent, it added. The research among 34,910 young people aged eight to 16 also found that girls are significantly more likely than boys to read in print—68 percent versus 54 percent.

Girls are also more likely to read on a range of on-screen devices including mobile phones (67 percent of girls versus 60 percent of boys), e-readers (84 percent versus 69), and tablets (70 percent versus 67).

However, those who read daily only on-screen are barely half as likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or in print and on-screen (15.5 percent versus 26), the research said.

Jonathan Douglas, the trust's director, said: "While we welcome the positive impact which technology has on bringing further reading opportunities to young people, it's crucial that reading in print is not cast aside.

"We are concerned by our finding that children who only read on-screen are significantly less likely to enjoy reading and less likely to be strong readers. "Good reading skills and reading for pleasure are closely linked to children's success at school and beyond. We need to encourage children to become avid readers, whatever format they choose."

R.A.S.P. - What is a Dyslexic Writer?

There are far too few books that are written for dyslexics. The ones available tend to focus on recovering from the problem.

They offer guidance or reassurance that dyslexia, can be solved, or lessened. They point out the advantages, disadvantages, or what it looks like.

All too common, is the perception that dyslexics would be better off in a world without books, without language, without reading.

In November 2011, to coincide with Dyslexia Awareness Week, RASP released Forgotten Letters: An Anthology of Literature by Dyslexic Writers.

The book is a compilation of work by contemporary dyslexic writers, both renowned and emerging, including but not limited to,

• Billy Childish (co-founder of the Stuckism Art Movement); 
• Andrew Solomon (winner of the 2001 National Book Award and finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize and author of "The Autism Rights Movement"); 
• Thomas G. West (author of Thinking Like Einstein and In the Mind’s Eye. Watch his videos on YouTube); 
• Sally Gardner, (winner of the 2005 Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award and, shortlisted for the British Children's Book of the Year in 2006); 
• Philip Schultz (winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry); and 
• Benjamin Zephaniah (included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008).

Some contributors have chosen to explore the concept of dyslexia through orthographic aberrations, while others have addressed their techniques for writing or discussed what writing means to them.

Together they bring attention to the structure of stories, images in words, and the authors’ love of language.

As such, this anthology is about more than the forgetting of letters. It is a testimony to the value of writing to dyslexics.

It brings to the fore notions of authorship, and authority.

It asks:

• who decides what dyslexia is? and 
• who authorises if whether dyslexics can write, or not? 

The book is considered to be of interest, not just to dyslexics, but also those interested in the relationship between identity and authorship as authority.

It provides a compelling read to all concerned with the limitations of representation and gives a voice to those who have been marginalised by literary traditions.

Visit the R.a.s.p. website here: www.r-a-s-p.co.uk

There are three books currently be distributed by RASP The Dyslexic Collective, Tal and the ABC and Pokkadots and Abucuses.

For more infomation about buying books from RASP email: sales@r-a-s-p.co.uk

CBeebies Fun with Phonics - Video and Books

CBeebies Fun with Phonics available from all good book stores

Diglot Bilingual Books for Children - Dutch English ABC

Diglot Bilingual books for toddlers.


Alison O' Dornan of Diglot Books is on Twitter if you are hunting for new multilingual language resources.

You will be impressed by her books, also by her drive to make excellent products for the bilingual children’s market.

Alison’s concept is simple, produce quality books and products which support language learning in bilingual children.

What makes Diglot different is the attention to detail. There are lots of books which give you the alphabet in English or Dutch, but Diglot produce the only A-Z where the word in both languages is the same, promoting word recognition equally in both languages.

Diglot Books are also stocked in Waterstones, Amsterdam.

Diglot Books also provide Dutch-English A-Z Going Shopping Flash Cards as well as their ever popular Nederlands English ABC.

NB: Unfortunately at this point in time their website is experiencing difficulties and is under maintenance.

Dyslexia: Message from a Teacher who is Dyslexic

Rocky Perry wrote his first book back in 2009 while he was studying Early Childhood Education at Dalton State College.

He has always tried to do the things that are hardest for him. He learned to read and write later than most people due to his Dyslexia, which was diagnosed with in the early eighties.

Writing a book, like getting his degree, presented some unique challenges. This first book was written using Dragon Naturally Speaking speech to text software.

He did finish the book and when he looked back at all the things he'd learned from the experience, he knew he had to keep writing.

"In the early eighties I was diagnosed with Dyslexia. It wasn’t until sixth grade that I learned to read. Most every book I read before thirty was an audio book and school was always a huge struggle."

"At thirty six, I am a college graduate, a teacher, author of several books, and a father of three great kids. I am doing the best I can. Dyslexia is still a struggle."

"I give a lot of credit to people who have helped me along the way, and of course technology. Without technology I am certain I would not have made it through high school, much less any of the other endeavours I have accomplished in my life."

Read more about Rocky on his blog: Mom, My Teacher is Dyslexic

We do not endorse any product or service on this blog but we do encourage you to become familiar with technology that can act as a tool and help you overcome the difficulties you face when managing your Dyslexia.

Henry Winkler: Podcast by the Dyslexic Author of Children's Books

Actor Henry Winkler: Insightful Podcast by the Dyslexic Author of Childrens' Books

Henry talks openly about his children's books and how they were lossely based on his own childhood and experience as a dyslexic child and man.

Henry is the father of 3 very successful children who also experience dyslexia in their daily lives.

The Smiley Book of Colours

When Freud came to believe he was going to die between the ages of 61 and 62, and subsequently began seeing the two numbers everywhere he looked, which only intensifying the urgency of his superstition, he came to observe the value of selective attention in focusing the unconscious.

But what if we engineered this selective attention purposefully and aligned it with our emotional and mental well-being?

That’s exactly what photographer, children’s author, and educator Ruth Kaiser did in 2008, when she began seeing smiley faces everywhere she turned.

For the past four years, she has been collecting and sharing photographs “found” everyday smileys in the Spontaneous Smiley Project — an exercise in self-induced feel-goodness, inviting others to upload their own photos and donating $1 for each uploaded photo to Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries to children born with cleft lip and cleft palate.

Four years later, The Smiley Book of Colors was born, at once teaching (eternal) kids basic color theory and instilling in them the habits of optimism — a charming, light-hearted complement to the recent grown-up exploration of the science of smiles.

The images are paired with simple, poetic meditations on the optimistic life — truths we may be tempted, through years of conditioned cynicism, to roll our eyes at, but ones that remain, at their heart, beautiful and true.

Let a neuroscientist elaborate on the optimism bias and its benefits.

The SAGE Handbook of DYSLEXIA

Click on the Image to visit  Amazon.com and the Kindle version of the book.

Description

The SAGE Handbook of Dyslexia is a comprehensive overview of a complex field. It is a rich, critical assessment of past and present theory and current research, which also looks to the future. 

The editors have brought together key figures from the international academic world - both researchers and practitioners - to examine the relationships between theoretical paradigms, research and practice, and to map new areas of research.

People who Became a Noun - Video

This reminded me of a lovely illustrated children’s book called If You Were a Noun.

Dogs helping children to read - Cesar Milan

I'm Listening!

Lately, there have been a number of programs springing up around the world where young children and older children with learning disabilities have been entered into programs where they have been reading to dogs. Dogs, you say?

While our canine brethren have been enthusiasts of running about wildly, chasing the Frisbee, swimming, and many other athletic pursuits, it’s been rare that they’ve been regarded by us humans as any meaningful participant in a literary salon.

The vast majority of pooches haven’t even read Old Yeller, The Call of the Wild, or even Marley and Me.

Yet, these four-legged critics are being enlisted to hear recitations of Dr. Seuss, Hans Christian Andersen, and J.K. Rowling in schools and libraries everywhere, where previously they might not even have been let through the door due to various hygiene considerations. So what’s going on?

Studies have begun to show that children who read to an audience perform much better when the audience is a dog as opposed to an adult human or a group of human peers.

The theory is that because the dog (usually a trained therapy dog) is attentive and nonjudgmental, the child feels more comfortable working through any difficulties sounding out the words or assembling the sentences conceptually knowing the dog won’t mock or laugh, but only support.

For children who are beginning to read, or are a little behind developmentally, or suffer from dyslexia, autism, or learning disabilities, an environment with a friendly companion like a professional therapy dog (or even a well-trained family pet) can create a safe atmosphere where they can work out their difficulties but not feel trivialised by classroom peers or fear disapproval of adult authority figures.

The use of dogs to provide encouragement to improve literacy can’t solve all problems associated with learning disabilities. Other educational techniques must be used in conjunction with reading to dogs to help overcome whatever challenges the reader faces, and it avoids the embarrassment of making mistakes in front of other people.

Dogs relieve the social pressure for the beginning reader to “get it right.” Dogs will enjoy the story even if the words are mispronounced or the delivery is halted. The dog won’t laugh and won’t make wisecracks if the reader makes mistakes and the dog’s attention and lack of judgment will hopefully help the reader keep moving forward and improving.

Recent studies have shown the improvements in the “dog readers” outshine the ones who don’t read to dogs.

A personal note from Cesar Milan: 'When my nephews were young and learning to read, a common holiday pastime was to ask them to come out and read a book to me. They were usually told for encouragement and aspiration that their uncle made his living reading and writing and he would be really excited to see how good they were (so, no pressure!). And my nephews, who had horsed around with me all day, giggled about everything, and been generally relaxed, sat down on the couch next to me, cracked open a storybook and began to read.'

'They would sit stiffly and read in trembling voices, with fearful glances at me to see if they had said the words correctly. It was painful, like watching a hostage read a prepared statement. I told them not to worry, that I thought they were awesome and you know, I still screwed up words, too and I think they kind of believed me. But still, I couldn’t say it like a dog could.'

Connect to Cesar's website here