I said I was going to talk about the words next, but something else occurs, first:
To get kids to read, parents are told to provide provide preschoolers with plenty of books and other reading materials that they can explore at their leisure, in any down time. Further, they are told that reading to their child from this collection, excitedly, helps communicate that reading is fun. . In short, kids want to do what parents tell them is fun to do. If parents ‘ooo’ and ‘ahhh’ over their vegetables, there is the potential preschool kids will want to eat those, first. I can speak to this from my own experience.
Reading helps preschoolers identify mechanics like capital letters and small letters, and sentence elements like periods and commas, and also basic sentence structure. Parents can also help kids learn specific words by sight. But this secondary step should not take the place of the first.
By way of illustrating this, I remember an open house with my children’s second grade teacher. There she emphasized to a class of parents, sitting in too-small chairs, that we need to read to and with our kids, as an avenue to helping them get these sight words. One of the busier mothers commented that she did not have time for this in a structured fashion, but that she did help identify words on the street, like STOP on a stop sign, or words on street signs. I stifled back the urge to call out “That’s behavior you’re supposed to teach to a pre schooler, or first grader, M’am. This is second grade. Read him a book.”
Anyway, for preschoolers, illustrated storybooks are most relevant because the child can follow along with the story as the parent reads, Parents help foster reading comprehension by asking questions about the story and about the pictures. This is picked up in later books as the art of reading and writing for context.
One of the products I worked on at Great Source Education Group was called the Readers Handbook, and another was called Reading Advantage. Both dissected the reading process, helping students to break down critical reading strategies and tools to use in reading (such as imagining what would happen next in fiction). They also had reading tools and organizers, and an outline that distinguished different types of text. It was amazing as an adult, to realize that at some point I was taught what was fiction versus non-fiction, what the structure was for a newspaper article versus a magazine feature article, etc. that’s all stuff that’s so ingrained, I never thought to question how it got to be so. It just always was—because I was a reader from an early age. These book, intended for grades 4 through 12, presents teachers with tools for helping students who are not early readers develop the skills to understand what reading was all about, dissecting what was essentially (for me at least) a transparent process.
But the goal for the demographic at hand is to teach them this through the first course, that is by teaching them to read and to love reading. And, again, the best path to this is through their parents. And the best way to get the parents to communicate that reading s fun, is by making it so in the books they read to their kids.
I heard a report the other morning that Reading Rainbow, a show that’s been on the air for 26 years, and is the third-longest children’s programming on PBS (Behind Sesame Street and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood) is ending, because the former sponsors, PBS or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or any station, will not front the several thousands of dollars to renew the broadcast rights. The reasoning behind this, in my own filtered nutshell, due to a shift in public policy and governmental focus from shows that talk about a love of reading to shows that focus on the basics of phonics and spelling—the “building blocks” of reading.
It occurs to me this leaves an inspirational, aspirational vacuum. Kids will learn to read, because schools require it. But my experience has been that you need first to teach kids to learn to read, then read to learn, and lastly love to read. The first and second are the basics that are being tackled in school, but the third is being left as a big hole, which will need to be filled.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Preschool Demographics 2: Magical thinking
Initially, I have defined the ideal type of book to produce by my previously outlined criteria—the type that does the most good to early readers—as being the read-to-me type. The goal is to produce a book that entertains the kids, on a kid level, but also, more importantly, entertains the parents. Because, as I started out the last entry saying, ultimately, if you’re selling a book to a kid who can’t read and can’t pay for it, you have to know you’re selling to the parent. So, on some level, the book always talking to the parent.
But the book also is not. The book is also talking to, and aimed at, kids that are able to think magically, a gift that a lot of parent’s have lost. This is why you can make a balloon a main character, why animals talking makes perfect sense, and why the illustrations become so important in communicating multiple layers of subtext that the content cannot.
So how do you speak to magical thinking, which is ideal for the target, without the parents getting in the way? In other words, how do you make something magical enough to capture the kids, without making it so alien that it turns off the parents? First key is to understand to some degree, what magical thinking is, how it relates to preschoolers, and how they interact with their parents.
Preschool age kids are going through a lot. They are growing physically, at an exponential rate. They are just beginning to learn independence from their parents, for the first time at this age starting to have an appreciation for their parent’s as separate entities, rather than somehow additional external appendages to themselves. And as such, they are beginning—just beginning—to assert their independence, in baby steps. They are testing the world, as they explore it, and learning to differentiate how many other external elements are within, or out of their control. In this, the boundaries of imagination and reality are interchangeable to a large degree. This is the age of the development of the imagination, and it coincides with their brain growth.
Children’s brains at this age are likewise developing at a rapid rate. It’s amazing to think that, conglomeration of cells that could only carry out autonomic functions four years ago have, by age four, begun to think abstractly. While all this development is going on, it’s important to realize it’s within an egocentric atmosphere. Preschoolers are learning about their world, but within the context of how it relates to them. For example, they may understand that it gets dark because the sun goes down, and they have to go to bed. That may translate into an understanding of the sun, that includes the sun having to “go to bed.” And on an overcast morning where they don’t feel like getting up, and don’t see the sun, it may seem perfectly reasonable that they are mad at the sun for not getting up, and mad at the parent for making them get up, and grumpy without explaining why, until and unless the sun comes out. These and a hundred other complex “I shouldn’t have to do this” scenarios reflective of egocentric thinking, mixed with magical support, make up some of the problems parents can run into with their kids without even knowing it.
Parents (often) “grow out” of the ability to think magically, and therefore have a hard time making these connections. Therefore parents, while supportive of the magical thinking, are also working to pull their kids more into the concrete of the parent’s world. And kids are frankly, just as anxious to go. The key becomes how to use and allow for kids magical thinking, while allowing for the introduction of realistic, rational elements, in a mix that parents find palatable, acceptable, and will want to pass on to their kids.
And publishers are aware of this push and tug. Therefore a story like Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, so popular it was just turned into a major motion picture, would frankly have a difficult time being published, today. The idea of a book making it okay for a kid to climb out a window and sail across the world would set off alarms. Similarly, Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat: The idea of letting a stranger in when you’re alone in the house, or even being left alone in the house, would be a hard sell today. This is because publishers are creating a third firewall, in front of the parents, who are the initial firewall in front of the kids. All this without any of these bulwarks necessarily appreciating the element of magical thinking, and acknowledging that kids can know not to let a strange man in the house with no one home, while still letting it be okay that a giant talking feline with a haberdashery fixation is perfectly fine. Magical thinking allows for both options.
There are a few studies out there (most notably in England), studying the connection between children's magical thinking and perception of reality. These studies have rested on three main pillars of study; parental input, children's inherent beliefs and children's responses to "magical" events. Obviously these are inter-connected. Parents encouraging a belief in Santa Claus play on inherent beliefs, and have a response that is reinforced not only by society (television specials, movies and mall Santas) but also be perceivable events (Christmas morning). The gist that I got out of it are the 3 main points I presented above; 1) magical thinking is natural part of development, 2) parent's encourage magical thinking while also working to educate children beyond it, and 3) most children and the luckiest adults still use creative and magical thinking. That, then, is my target.
Understanding, and really being able to take advantage of this, is the area that produces the best read-to-me children’s literature. So with that understanding, we move on to the language, and the imagery.
Next: What’s the words?
But the book also is not. The book is also talking to, and aimed at, kids that are able to think magically, a gift that a lot of parent’s have lost. This is why you can make a balloon a main character, why animals talking makes perfect sense, and why the illustrations become so important in communicating multiple layers of subtext that the content cannot.
So how do you speak to magical thinking, which is ideal for the target, without the parents getting in the way? In other words, how do you make something magical enough to capture the kids, without making it so alien that it turns off the parents? First key is to understand to some degree, what magical thinking is, how it relates to preschoolers, and how they interact with their parents.
Preschool age kids are going through a lot. They are growing physically, at an exponential rate. They are just beginning to learn independence from their parents, for the first time at this age starting to have an appreciation for their parent’s as separate entities, rather than somehow additional external appendages to themselves. And as such, they are beginning—just beginning—to assert their independence, in baby steps. They are testing the world, as they explore it, and learning to differentiate how many other external elements are within, or out of their control. In this, the boundaries of imagination and reality are interchangeable to a large degree. This is the age of the development of the imagination, and it coincides with their brain growth.
Children’s brains at this age are likewise developing at a rapid rate. It’s amazing to think that, conglomeration of cells that could only carry out autonomic functions four years ago have, by age four, begun to think abstractly. While all this development is going on, it’s important to realize it’s within an egocentric atmosphere. Preschoolers are learning about their world, but within the context of how it relates to them. For example, they may understand that it gets dark because the sun goes down, and they have to go to bed. That may translate into an understanding of the sun, that includes the sun having to “go to bed.” And on an overcast morning where they don’t feel like getting up, and don’t see the sun, it may seem perfectly reasonable that they are mad at the sun for not getting up, and mad at the parent for making them get up, and grumpy without explaining why, until and unless the sun comes out. These and a hundred other complex “I shouldn’t have to do this” scenarios reflective of egocentric thinking, mixed with magical support, make up some of the problems parents can run into with their kids without even knowing it.
Parents (often) “grow out” of the ability to think magically, and therefore have a hard time making these connections. Therefore parents, while supportive of the magical thinking, are also working to pull their kids more into the concrete of the parent’s world. And kids are frankly, just as anxious to go. The key becomes how to use and allow for kids magical thinking, while allowing for the introduction of realistic, rational elements, in a mix that parents find palatable, acceptable, and will want to pass on to their kids.
And publishers are aware of this push and tug. Therefore a story like Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, so popular it was just turned into a major motion picture, would frankly have a difficult time being published, today. The idea of a book making it okay for a kid to climb out a window and sail across the world would set off alarms. Similarly, Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat: The idea of letting a stranger in when you’re alone in the house, or even being left alone in the house, would be a hard sell today. This is because publishers are creating a third firewall, in front of the parents, who are the initial firewall in front of the kids. All this without any of these bulwarks necessarily appreciating the element of magical thinking, and acknowledging that kids can know not to let a strange man in the house with no one home, while still letting it be okay that a giant talking feline with a haberdashery fixation is perfectly fine. Magical thinking allows for both options.
There are a few studies out there (most notably in England), studying the connection between children's magical thinking and perception of reality. These studies have rested on three main pillars of study; parental input, children's inherent beliefs and children's responses to "magical" events. Obviously these are inter-connected. Parents encouraging a belief in Santa Claus play on inherent beliefs, and have a response that is reinforced not only by society (television specials, movies and mall Santas) but also be perceivable events (Christmas morning). The gist that I got out of it are the 3 main points I presented above; 1) magical thinking is natural part of development, 2) parent's encourage magical thinking while also working to educate children beyond it, and 3) most children and the luckiest adults still use creative and magical thinking. That, then, is my target.
Understanding, and really being able to take advantage of this, is the area that produces the best read-to-me children’s literature. So with that understanding, we move on to the language, and the imagery.
Next: What’s the words?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Preschool Demographics 1: Introduction
I'm working on a children's book, as viewers of this web site over the past year...or two years...may be aware. But, though I do many things very slowly, I do few things half way. So, there is some target audience research involved here. The first thing I realize is that you are not selling a children's book to children, but to the parents of children. But. that said, it is still essential to understand kids at the Pre-K level. Here is the first of a series where I explore that target audience.
In defining what is a good idea for a children’s book, we need to acknowledge on truth: that ultimately, if you’re selling a book to a kid who can’t read and can’t pay for it, you have to know you’re selling to the parent.
And what does that parent want? Hopefully, what’s best for the kid. They need a book that will entertain the child, capture the child’s imagination, and ideally teach that child something. But finding that balance is the key, and doing it with a product that is actually unique, playful, fun and at the same time mature, educational and meaningful is the challenge.
So let’s save that for the end of the exploration. Let’s start with easy questions.
First, we need to narrow the target—initially, by age group. We’re talking about kids who cannot read or are just-beginning readers, again, Kindergarten or Pre-K kids. This is the age group that is key to reaching, in terms of making the most significant and early difference to their lives.
There is a program called the Harlem Children’s Zone, which the Prez talked about during the election, and is putting into action:
)
This successful program has been the subject of much media coverage, and one book
The gist of the discussion point here is that kids need to be read to. The more kids are read to, the greater their minds are stimulated, the greater their vocabulary becomes, and the more open they become to more knowledge. Reading to kids makes them smarter. The more you read to them, the greater their potential becomes, simply in the fact of increased vocabulary, increased exposure to more words, and increased susceptibility to new ideas.
Having defined my ideal goal for creating a childrens book is to produce it for the age it can do the most good, Next, I'm going to discriminate two categories: read to me, and read to myself. The read to myself books (I can read, and a whole slew of early reader titles) are much more limited and limiting. This is the type of book we see much more of, and frankly, IMHO, too much of. Maybe it's just because I come out of educational publishing. But it seems every reading program develops it's own slew of trademarks readers all of which have the correct parts, right language, and the same amount of imagination (or lack thereof). One or two simple books (or even book series) like this are enough to give kids a sense of accomplishment, and in that they are important. But man, there are already too many series of these out there.
In the end, I think the author and the reader is getting more bang for the buck with the "read to me" kind. Maybe I don't have the research to support that assertion, but I bet if you ask adults their favorite books to have read early on, you might get some books from the "I Can read" series, but you aren't going to get too many saying "I just loved the McGraw-Hill Leveled Readers series!" You're going to get Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Whistle for Willie, and the Polar Express. You're going to get stories that stuck.
So, for my ideal, I want a project that will inspire parents to read to their kids, by capturing the adult imagination, in a subject that is energized and interesting to the child, trusting that, where the parent goes, the child will clamor to follow.
Next: Magical Thinking.
In defining what is a good idea for a children’s book, we need to acknowledge on truth: that ultimately, if you’re selling a book to a kid who can’t read and can’t pay for it, you have to know you’re selling to the parent.
And what does that parent want? Hopefully, what’s best for the kid. They need a book that will entertain the child, capture the child’s imagination, and ideally teach that child something. But finding that balance is the key, and doing it with a product that is actually unique, playful, fun and at the same time mature, educational and meaningful is the challenge.
So let’s save that for the end of the exploration. Let’s start with easy questions.
First, we need to narrow the target—initially, by age group. We’re talking about kids who cannot read or are just-beginning readers, again, Kindergarten or Pre-K kids. This is the age group that is key to reaching, in terms of making the most significant and early difference to their lives.
There is a program called the Harlem Children’s Zone, which the Prez talked about during the election, and is putting into action:
)
This successful program has been the subject of much media coverage, and one book
The gist of the discussion point here is that kids need to be read to. The more kids are read to, the greater their minds are stimulated, the greater their vocabulary becomes, and the more open they become to more knowledge. Reading to kids makes them smarter. The more you read to them, the greater their potential becomes, simply in the fact of increased vocabulary, increased exposure to more words, and increased susceptibility to new ideas.
Having defined my ideal goal for creating a childrens book is to produce it for the age it can do the most good, Next, I'm going to discriminate two categories: read to me, and read to myself. The read to myself books (I can read, and a whole slew of early reader titles) are much more limited and limiting. This is the type of book we see much more of, and frankly, IMHO, too much of. Maybe it's just because I come out of educational publishing. But it seems every reading program develops it's own slew of trademarks readers all of which have the correct parts, right language, and the same amount of imagination (or lack thereof). One or two simple books (or even book series) like this are enough to give kids a sense of accomplishment, and in that they are important. But man, there are already too many series of these out there.
In the end, I think the author and the reader is getting more bang for the buck with the "read to me" kind. Maybe I don't have the research to support that assertion, but I bet if you ask adults their favorite books to have read early on, you might get some books from the "I Can read" series, but you aren't going to get too many saying "I just loved the McGraw-Hill Leveled Readers series!" You're going to get Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Whistle for Willie, and the Polar Express. You're going to get stories that stuck.
So, for my ideal, I want a project that will inspire parents to read to their kids, by capturing the adult imagination, in a subject that is energized and interesting to the child, trusting that, where the parent goes, the child will clamor to follow.
Next: Magical Thinking.
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