Books

For John, BLUF:  Little children need the interaction.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the web presence Acculturated we have an offering by Ms Stephanie Cohen, "What Happens When Homes Have No Books".  This is an important question.

Carol Rasco, President of Reading is Fundamental, recently asked, “Can you imagine a childhood without books?”

Rasco’s piece noted that two-thirds of the country’s poorest children don’t own a single book. These children are little different than the character Francie, the poor girl living in the Williamsburg slums of New York in 1912, who has long captivated readers in Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Children without books is a problem.  It means children falling behind their contemporaries.  It means bad educational outcomes.

Mr John McDonough, on City Life, the other day, had a good idea.  Under his proposal local access TV Channel 22, the Lowell School Department channel, would do book reading for children.  As part of the program, parents would be able to contact the School Department, which would ship soft covered copies of the books back to the children.  I like this idea as a way to increase the vocabulary of young children and to help stimulate their imaginations.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff