Welcome everyone. This week it’s back to school for many and back to blogging for me. I’ve reinvented Nurturing Literacy and hope you will find it helpful and visit often. The first change is narrowing the focus of the blog. Research shows that there are scads of books, blogs, videos and various forms of information designed to help parents of primary grade students foster literacy development in their child. This, however, does not seem to be the case as kids move into grades four through eight. At this point, most kids know how to read and most parents are at a loss as to how to encourage and enrich both their child’s love of reading and ability to adequately comprehend what they read. For most, it’s easier to leave it all up to the teacher and assume literacy growth will simply take care of itself. And, for some it does. But time and again, in my years of working with students in these grades, I’ve seen the impact it can make when parents become knowledgeable and actively support literacy in the home.

The biggest roadblock to parental involvement is usually lack of know-how. This blog will aim to broaden your knowledge and offer easy, practical ways to help your child grow as a reader. If you are a parent who is sick with worry because your child is a struggling reader, this blog is for you. If you are a parent who recognizes that your child lacks the motivation to read, this blog is for you. If you are a parent of an advanced reader who struggles to find age-appropriate books, this blog is for you. If you are a grandparent or teacher determined to support the literacy development of the youngster in your life, this blog is for you. Think of it as a place to converse, ask questions, and share insights with others committed to empowering children to read.

Until last June, I was a full-time Reading specialist. Now that I’m retired, I can commit to a second change – posting on a regular basis. Every Monday and Friday, you can expect to find a new post. I hope that you will enjoy the content, add your voice to the conversation, become a follower and share this blog with others. Stop back on Friday to learn to help your youngster turn wasted minutes into beneficial reading time.