All posts tagged: grade school

MALCOLM MITCHELL’S FABULOUS CHILDREN’S BOOK–MY VERY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, plus reading struggles, being a literacy crusader, more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Have you ever struggled to find the perfect book? I know I have! And I’m a ‘reader.’ How about a child in your life? I’m betting so. This darling children’s book–with bold, bright illustrations–by football champion Malcolm Mitchell is sure to delight.  ~BOOKS ON MONDAY|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ CHILDREN’S LITERACY  Henley hates to read. When Henley is supposed to be reading before bed, he builds a castle with his sheets. Henley hates reading so much, he took a wagon full of books to the town swimming pool to find out how well they could swim. MY VERY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WORLD (Scholastic, December 29) is super-adorable–the words, the illustrations–all of it, is so heartfelt and moving. It’s about being a kid who hates to read, but all of his classmates seem to thrive with a book in hand. It’s based on the real-life experience of football star Malcolm Mitchell, who says, “When I was a kid, reading was my biggest challenge. It was the thing that scared me most, because it …

The Teacher is Talking: Report Cards…Gasp!

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By Leslie Lindsay Those report cards are out…or coming soon, right?  And you’ve got questions.  What does an E mean?  Is that the new A?  And if so, does an F mean a B…that is, if we are going in alphabetical order.  But we’re not. When I was a kid, the grading scale was a bit different.  It was something like K thru 2nd grade got S’s and O’s meaning “satisfactory” and “outstanding,” respectively.  If you got an “N” you were in deep doo-doo; that meant, “needs improvement.”  An “N” was a bad word around our school.  By the time students reached 3rd grade and beyond, it was all about the traditional A’s and B’s. So, how does a parent makes heads or tails of this crazy new grading system?  For example, my little nugget (1st grade) came home with some “D’s” and “S’s”.  A “D?!!”  What…not my kid!  But a “D” means “developing.”  It’s not exactly “bad,” per se.  It’s somewhere in the middle of the grading scale, like a “B” perhaps.  An “S” is …