Ruby Ruben: A Flawed Gem
Ruby Ruben, written by Candice Muñoz and illustrated by Branislav Gapic, asks children to see the world through the eyes of its titular character. Ruby is a young boy who “sees the world a little bit differently.” He imagines flying to the moon, touching the sky, being a superhero,...
How Much Tech Is Too Much Tech?
If you walk into a preschool class, you will still most likely see children being children; jumping around, twirling, finger-painting (hopefully not the wall!), interacting with one another in various ways, learning how to fairly trade a teddy bear for a block tower. This is what they are supposed...
What’s Going On With The Word Gap?
Written by: Molly McManus, PhD Candidate in Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin. Note: We Read Together presents this article in order to facilitate dialogue. WRT doesn’t officially endorse or support the opinions below. Why do rich kids end up doing better than poor kids in school? Of late, one common explanation...
We Read Together on the Radio (Podcast)
Our kids made some great pieces of audio fiction. If you don’t like reading, fist donate to us and we’ll come show you how awesome reading is (if you’re wondering how awesome reading is, the answer is VERY). After you donate, you can scroll to the end of this...
Do Kids Need to Like What They’re Reading to Progress?
Written by: Ryan Spencer, Clinical Teaching Specialist; Lecturer in Literacy Education, University of Canberra. When we think of reading for our children, we are often misled into thinking that we need to focus on one type of book, such as picture books or novels in order to practice specific, reading-related...
Elephants Make Fine Friends
Colter Jackson’s debut picture book is a heartfelt delight. Ella and her elephant were the best of friends. But when Ella begins to notice the differences between herself and an elephant, she wonders: is this really my best friend? Are we too different? It takes a lot of...
Learning Through War: The Refugee Children of Syria, Croatia and Beyond
Zagreb, Croatia, 9/29/2015 All month long, the Syrian refugees have been flooding my news feed and TV screen. I have a strong need to leave the political aside, to see them for who they are: humans. A World At School website says: Children trapped in conflict zones are the...
Why Should You Invest in Early Childhood Education?
Election season is just getting started and the likes of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders are starting to make noise with their idea about how to “fix” America. In the coming months we are going to hear a lot from them about jobs, taxes, and education. Some...
Kids and Poetry: Reinvention at the Kitchen Table
The first time I gave a creative writing lesson to young children was a complete accident. I was babysitting a brother and a sister in Brooklyn and one of the things I was asked to do was to help them with their homework, involving a certain poem in a...
6 Tips for Stubborn Summer Readers
It’s that time of year. The birds are chirping. The teachers are packing up their classrooms. Trees and bushes are filling out, readying themselves for roles as home base or hiding place in epic hide-and-seek battles. The structure of your child’s day is beginning to look like a late-game...