Written May 15, 2008– but not posted until now– I forgot I had saved it as a draft. The link to the LA Times may have expired. They move things to the archive pretty fast, so people have to subscribe to read them.
Hurray! The Los Angeles Times published my op-ed piece online today. Its point is that the home is more important than the school re: literacy, and we need an all-out parenting education effort to support young parents in learning and doing the things that help kids become literate. Here’s the link: <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-jantzen15-2008may15,0,1635045.story>
I love good editors! Sure appreciated Swati Pandey, who did a light edit of the piece I’d written over the weekend in response to an editorial about the failure of Bush’s Reading First program.
Had a sweet time with R (age 6) and C (age 3) this afternoon. We walked a distance to a local park, R leading the way confidently, as I didn’t know it. Then, of course, after vigorous play, we had to walk back. C got a blister and shrieked a while, so I carried him piggy back most of the way home. (Good practice for carrying a pack on the Camino Frances de Compostela de Santigo.)
After supper, B painted our toenails: R got red; C got orange on one foot, red on the other; I opted for orangy-pink on all ten. While B washed dishes, R and C and I played 3-way catch–first couple rounds, the catcher had to name a color when they caught the ball; then for a few rounds, catcher had to make an animal sound as they caught it. My favorite “animal” sound was by C–he made the sound of a race car. Then we read several books, including two sections of Mother Goose. How wondrous those old rhymes are; such strong rhythms you can play the words over and over.
Tomorrow to Mega Business at the Irvine Marriott.
