Comments on: Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup – 30 March

By: Natasha @ Maw Books

Natasha @ Maw Books — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:44:31 +0000

I can’t imagine the time that it takes to put up these round up posts. Thanks so much for sharing these great links!

By: ReadingTub

ReadingTub — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:14:02 +0000

Donna – Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment. Almost 10 years ago, I had the honor of interviewing and hiring an blind woman at the government agency I worked for. She was an amazing, engaging person and I wish I had half her brainpower! I had the opportunity to see first hand that blindness need not be an obstacle to reaching a dream you’ve set your heart on. Thank you again!

By: Donna Hill

Donna Hill — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:31:23 +0000

Thank you for mentioning the crisis in Braille literacy. The other side of the coin — sorry, couldn’t help myself — is that more than two-thirds of working-age blind Americans with no other disability than vision loss, are unemployed. However, of the ones who are employed ninety percent are Braille literate. With blindness on the increase from a number of conditions including diabetic related blindness, continuing to look the other way about this problem will serve only to further burden our Social Security system. The core reason behind the lack of Braille literacy is that people, especially those in education and even parents of blind children, don’t expect blind people to be able to live independent, productive and happy lives. Blind people are, by their successes, proving that blindness need not be an obstacle to becoming lawyers, chemists, mechanics, journalists, engineers and so on. Expect us to be productive and give us the tools, so that we can contribute to our world, which needs all of us to solve its many problems.

By: Book Chook

Book Chook — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:02:40 +0000

Another great one, Terry. I plan to play at Mind 360 soon!

I agree about the variety of approaches to literacy. I want to write a post soon about incorporating drama with literacy learning. While I have no anecdotal evidence of the link between piano playing and literacy development, I certainly do of singing!

By: Jon Bard

Jon Bard — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:51:00 +0000

Great post! I’m gonna tweet all about it.

And glad you liked the Children’s Picture Book Database — it really is a cool resource.

Jon

By: ReadingTub

ReadingTub — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:54:17 +0000

Thanks Carrie Anne – I thought that data base was really cool. I’m not a children’s author, but I’m always being asked “do you know any books about?” This will be a huge help.

Jen – No thanks needed. Can you take the cold weather back to California with you? Maybe drop it over the Rockies or someplace?

By: Jen Robinson

Jen Robinson — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:28:44 +0000

Thanks so much for doing this, Terry! I just put up a quick post linking, but I look forward to having time later in the week to follow and read some of these links in more detail (especially the one about the young girl who started a literacy program – I love stories like that).

By: Carrie Anne

Carrie Anne — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:54:58 +0000

I’ve just started following this blog (found via twitter actually). Thanks for the tip on the Children’s Picture Book Database. I’m an aspiring writer and every time I get an idea, that’s one of the questions in the back of my head (has someone done this already)?.
Cheers.