As a parent, teacher and storyteller, I know the importance of reading to kids. Reading to kids allows them to enjoy tales that they might never attempt on their own. It encourages listening and a better understanding of literature. A colleague of mine once wrote, “We are pleasure seeking individuals by nature. Reading should always be viewed as an enjoyable event.”

My sister told me that when she was young my mother used to always share with her “Struwwelpeter” stories. I looked some of these stories up on the Internet and discovered that they were a series of poems written (in German) by Heinrich Hoffmann. Most of them were pretty gruesome. Here’s an example of one:
Continue reading Being read to…

When I was a junior in college at SUNY Stony Brook, I finally decided what I wanted to be when I graduated from school. I was going to be a teacher. I was lucky to have as my mentor and professor for 2 years. Dr. Dennis Littky. Dennis at the time was in his mid-20s, a professor in the Education department and at the same time directly involved in creating a new Middle School in the Shoreham-Wading River newly merged school district on Long Island. I learned a lot from Dennis as I completed my final 2 years of undergraduate college. The year I graduated Stony Brook in 1972, Dennis left his post at the university to become the principal of SWR’s new Middle School. Continue reading Time to reflect…