Discover creative ways to talk, sing, read, and play with your children every day. Learn more about Words Count, watch the video, and get and share great ideas on our Facebook page!
The connection between early literacy and incarceration
The rumor was false but the connection was real. In our guest blog, educator Stan Lujan tackles the connection between Alaskans in prison and literacy. As Stan notes in his testimony to the House Finance Committee, prison planners do not look to reading scores to predict how many prison beds they’ll need. But the connection Read More
Best Beginnings Report to Alaskans
Our newest publication – Success in life. It starts here. – is now available online. We’re especially proud of this report because it shows and tells, with strong graphics and clear language, what Best Beginnings is doing, why it matters, and how it is succeeding. Take a look!
Where we are
As many Alaskans know, Best Beginnings took a major body blow with a 66 percent reduction in state funding for the fiscal year that began July 1. For the current year, Best Beginnings is receiving $320,000 from the state, down more than $600,000 from previous years. Best Beginnings is tackling the challenge in several ways, Read More
Pediatricians’ Rx for new parents: Read to your baby.
It was great news recently, when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced it is asking its 62,000 members to urge parents to read to their children as soon as they’re born. For the first time, the AAP will promote early literacy—beginning from an infant’s very first days—as an “essential” component of primary care visits. Read More
It’s everywhere…and in more ways than one
I’ve been watching our four 3-year-old grandchildren demonstrate STEM skills. They turned over rocks to look for worms and found “creatures” hiding in puddles at Kincaid Beach. They planned and built Lego spaceships and tall towers and knocked them apart to see how the pieces would fall. They passed along my iPad when the timer Read More
We must change it!
Recently I learned this heartbreaking 2012 statistic: 47% of Alaska children with substantiated reports of harm were under the age of 6. These are our youngest and most vulnerable precious children. More than a million children in America experience child maltreatment each year – Alaska has among the highest per capita rates of child abuse Read More
Quality early care and learning
Over the next few months, a series of gatherings for parents, early childhood professionals, and others will get under way as work resumes to establish a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in Alaska. The long term result: clear standards, better consumer information, and incentives for providers to improve. Here’s more about this statewide effort.
“Dialogic Reading” – a give-and-take technique
How frequently you read to a child is important. But just as important is how you read. Try a twist with your reading by prompting your child with questions and encouraging discussion. “No one can learn to play the piano just by listening to someone else play. Likewise, no one can learn to read just Read More
The wonder of wordless books
Books without words encourage parents and children to use their imaginations in telling a story around the pictures. Since there’s no temptation to stick to the script, parent and child can change the story, make up words, and personalize it. Check out these hints and recommendations.