Love Of Reading: Tips On How To Cultivate It In Children

For some, the response to the demand that students know more is to put increasingly sophisticated material earlier and earlier into the school curriculum. They reason that if a student has trouble when algebra is introduced (as an example) in the 7th grade, then the solution is to introduce algebra starting in the 2nd grade—and to let it somehow “seep in through the pores of the skin” as the student moves forward. In reality, higher levels of mathematics are understood to the degree that every one of the steps below them have been thoroughly mastered.

It may seem rewarding to say that a young student read a sophisticated work of literature, but if the student hated the whole process and didn’t understand any of it (as it was over their head), then there truly is no victory worth celebrating. You have to give children books at a level that they can read with success. This doesn’t mean coddling children into reading only simple books. The point is certainly to move them up into higher levels, but to do so by moving them along at an incremental progression that promotes genuine progress.

If you were a weight trainer, would you continually insist that a student lift 200 pounds of weight when he couldn’t even lift 100 pounds? Then, when the student continued to fail and suffer and experience heavy strain at the level of 200 pounds, would you respond by giving them special strategy sessions or coping sessions or…? Clearly, it would be much more effective to move the student to a lower level of weight and to vigorously train them upwards from there.

By forcing students to read books above their level, you lock them into a losing situation and promote distaste for reading.

How to Navigate the School System When Your Child Has a Disability

Contact daycare providers, the child’s doctor, or anyone else who might be interacting with your child or knows them and may have observations to share. Are they seeing what you have noticed? Have them put something into writing. Then it’s time to contact your child’s school for help.

Put your concerns in a letter to your child’s school and be sure to include the date. Keep a copy of this letter in your files. This letter will start the “timeline” that documents the disability and need for extra support. Clearly state that the letter serves as a request for a multi-factored evaluation and that you are giving consent for this to take place, and be sure to clearly outline your observations and concerns. Include copies of any documentation, evaluations or assessments that support those concerns. Also, describe any special or extra supports that the school may already be providing for your child.

Be sure to provide your contact information with your address, both day and night phone numbers, email and cell phone. Remember that a reasonable time frame for response would be (1-2 weeks), and address your letter to the principal and Special Education Coordinator of your school or district. By doing this, you have started the process for your child to get the help they need. There are timelines that each state must go by, but the final determination of what type of help they will provide should be made within 100 days.

The process may vary from state to state. You do have the right and responsibility to participate in any meetings with your school during the evaluation process. There should be several meetings: one to plan what evaluations will take place, which could include screenings, classroom observations, monitoring, consultations, assisted technology, and materials to support student achievement. Your child must be assessed in all areas associated with the suspected disability including an appropriate evaluation in the areas of: health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative skills, and motor abilities.

The members of the team from the school will come together to review the results and determine if your child meets the criteria for services. The right to receive those services has been mandated under Federal Law—The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides that if school-aged children fall under one or more qualifying conditions or under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, they should be eligible for support.

If your child is determined to be eligible, your child’s team will develop an “Appropriate” (which means equal to an education that is provided for those students who are not disabled) program that will be designed to provide an “educational benefit for a person with disabilities.” This covers all school age children who meet specific criteria who may fall under on or more qualifying conditions , ie autism, specific learning diabilities, speech /language impairments, emotional disturbance, traumatic brain injury, visual or hearing impairment, and other health impairment. Under IDEA, an Individual Educational Plan will be made. The name of this plan will vary from state to state, but it must be developed within 30 days. This plan will be reviewed on a yearly basis, to establish goals for your child’s education and the supports that will be provided. Your child will be re-evaluated every three years to determine eligibility for continuation of services.

A child may also receive services under Section 504, which has less specific procedural criteria under which school personnel and services are provided. Under Section 504, a child who meets the definition for qualified “handicapped person” may receive services,, such as a physical or mental handicap that substantially limits a major life activity. This would include a child who has a disability that impairs walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning, working, or caring for him or herself. 504 services cover a lifespan, and safeguard a person with disabilities in areas of school, employment, transportation and public access to buildings, among other things. If a 504 plan is developed, it will be reviewed periodically, usually annually, and the guidelines are more flexible.

What are my

If your child is determined to be eligible, your child’s team will develop an “Appropriate” (which means equal to an education that is provided for those students who are not disabled) program that will be designed to provide an “educational benefit for a person with disabilities.” This covers all school age children who meet specific criteria who may fall under on or more qualifying conditions , ie autism, specific learning diabilities, speech /language impairments, emotional disturbance, traumatic brain injury, visual or hearing impairment, and other health impairment. Under IDEA, an Individual Educational Plan will be made. The name of this plan will vary from state to state, but it must be developed within 30 days. This plan will be reviewed on a yearly basis, to establish goals for your child’s education and the supports that will be provided. Your child will be re-evaluated every three years to determine eligibility for continuation of services.

A child may also receive services under Section 504, which has less specific procedural criteria under which school personnel and services are provided. Under Section 504, a child who meets the definition for qualified “handicapped person” may receive services,, such as a physical or mental handicap that substantially limits a major life activity. This would include a child who has a disability that impairs walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning, working, or caring for him or herself. 504 services cover a lifespan, and safeguard a person with disabilities in areas of school, employment, transportation and public access to buildings, among other things. If a 504 plan is developed, it will be reviewed periodically, usually annually, and the guidelines are more flexible.

What are my rights and responsibilities?

If your child is denied services, you have the right to request that an independent evaluation be done to assess your child’s needs. Under IDEA the school will be responsible for the expenses, while under 504 the parents would cover the costs. You may also appeal the decision under due process with the state education department. Each state may have a slightly different process—you can find out more about the process in your particular area by accessing the websites for the Department of Education for you state/province. Also check the yellow pages and web sites for advocacy groups for various disabilities in your area. They can be a strong support for parents .

Chelsea Clinton, Living Up to the Family Name

She wanted to stop pretending she was not Chelsea Clinton.

It was quite an assertion from someone who — despite the very public profile of her parents, one a former president and the other the current secretary of state — had lived most of her 31 years at a far remove from the spotlight.

Yes, there had been sightings of Chelsea over the years, as she grew from a gangly, curly-haired teenager into the confident, stylishly dressed woman making the social scene in her adopted home, New York. And, yes, her marriage to Marc Mezvinsky landed the happy couple on the cover of People magazine — and then later on Page Six when rumors circulated that there might be marital problems.

But for the most part, Ms. Clinton seemed determined to keep her private life strictly private, refusing to speak to the news media and requesting the same from her loyal inner circle. Now, however, talk turned to the notion thatif she was going to face the downside of being the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, under the constant scrutiny of the news media, why not also take advantage of the upside?

Thus, in the past 12 months, she has joined the board of Barry Diller’s Internet media holding company, IAC/InterActiveCorp; spoken at fund-raisers for organizations like amfAR; taken an increasingly public role with the Clinton Global Initiative; presented an award to her mother at Diane Von Furstenberg’s event; and hosted her father’s 65th birthday at a Hollywood benefit for the Clinton Foundation with fellow guests Lady Gaga and Bono. She has even started a Facebook page.

And in her most high-profile move so far, she has taken a job with NBC News as a special correspondent, contributing to the network’s “Making a Difference” franchise. On Dec. 12, Ms. Clinton will make her first appearance on the prime-time newsmagazine “Rock Center With Brian Williams,” with a segment she developed about a nonprofit organization in Pine Bluff, Ark.

Keeping Up With Posts and Tweets Down East

WHEN the phone rings at a call center inside a former department store here, it’s as much story time as sales time. As in: I was in Maine four summers ago. What’s it like in the winter? Or: Our dog ate my husband’s favorite slippers. Can you help me replace them before he finds out?

As the holiday orders pour in, some 3,600 L. L. Bean employees in this old mill town and elsewhere in Maine work the phones, answering questions, taking orders and, quite often, listening to warm, fuzzy stories. Customer service is a hallmark of this venerable Maine retailer, which turns 100 next year.

But this Christmas season, there’s a new twist: in addition to traditional phone orders, L L. Bean is wading boot-deep into social media. A 10-member team was recently created to interact with customers on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

The changes, however, have come with a few corporate qualms that test the company’s folksy small-town culture. Will all that chatter help or hurt the company’s image?

“We are quite used to dealing one-to-one with our customers, but this takes it to a whole new level,” said Terry Sutton, a senior vice president for e-commerce at the company.

For one thing, Ms. Sutton said, “people will be airing their gripes to a bigger audience.”

Indeed, a quick search of Twitter and Facebook finds plenty of examples that might make Ms. Sutton cringe.

“Just spent 20 minutes flipping through the L. L. Bean catalog looking for black people and minorities,” wrote a Twitter user named Mary Tyler Moreno. “Think I counted three.”

Another user, who goes by John Martin, joked that L. L. Bean had shrewdly instigated the Occupy Maine protests to spur sales of tents. “Kudos to @LLBean on coming up with @OccupyMaine. Genius viral marketing campaign to sell last season’s tents!”

Not surprisingly, some complaints are directed at the company’s ubiquitous catalogs (up to 50 separate titles a year), which Bean has been mailing for generations.

The Descendants Rethink Denim

You would be hard pressed to find jeans that are more about the business of heritage than those of Imogene + Willie, even though the label is less than three years old. In fact, the collection, which looks as folksy as if it had been painted by Grant Wood, is the second act of a family that once manufactured vintage-looking jeans for labels like Levi’s, Ernest Sewn, Rogan and RRL.

Before starting the company, Matt and Carrie Eddmenson, who are 36 and 37, respectively, had worked for many years at Sights Denim Systems in Henderson, Ky.

Sights, which grew out of Ms. Eddmenson’s paternal grandfather’s textile rental firm, developed denim styles for designers and at one point produced as many as 250,000 pairs of acid- and stonewashed jeans a week. But it closed in 2008, well after most denim manufacturing had moved offshore or to the West Coast.

“We had been making bluejeans for 20 years,” Ms. Eddmenson said.So what were we going to do? Make crepes? We started a mini version of the old company.”

For seed money, the Eddmensons made 250 pairs of custom jeans for $100 each, raising enough capital to open a store in a former gas station in the 12South neighborhood of Nashville.

Since June 2009, they have sold more than 10,000 pairs, each style named after a family member and ranging from $225 to $375. The slim-straight Barton, for example, was named after Ms. Eddmenson’s brother, who is now the director of global product development for Levi’s. The company itself was named after her maternal grandparents.

Although Imogene + Willie was briefly carried by J. Crew last year as part of its In Good Company program, the Eddmensons have waited until this week to expand substantially, now selling the collection at Steven Alan and Park & Bond. The designers are also guest editing the Park & Bond site, beginning Thursday, writing about their favorite spots in Nashville and interviewing one of their regular customers, who happens to be Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.

Tyler Thoreson, the head of editorial and creative for the Park & Bond site, was attracted to the label, he said, “because they didn’t just say this heritage thing is going to be really big and let’s get in on this.”

“They’re like a band that has been practicing for 10 years and shows up and plays its first live show and everyone’s like, ‘Wow, where did they come from?’ ”

In this case, Kentucky, by way of Nashville.

Beauty as Their Business

But Ms. Platt, 27, isn’t content to be a face of good causes. With a growing number of patrician young women, she is turning the work of being pretty into a business.

On a balmy Monday at Sant Ambroeus cafe in the West Village, where the maître d’hôtel nearly tripped over himself to greet her (“My boyfriend owns this place,” she explained demurely), Ms. Platt, wearing slim black riding pants and a tweed jacket, told about how she had been working full time as a hedge-fund analyst assessing water utilities when she was invited to her first Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala in 2008.

“I ducked out during lunch for a blowout and then sat in the office bathroom trying to put my makeup on,” she said. “Then, lo and behold, 20 minutes later, you’re on the red carpet next to Gisele Bündchen, who had a hair and makeup team and six hours to get ready. It was such a fun event, but it was so stressful.”

On TV, Nice Guys Finish First

Twice a week the show presented a spectacle that would not have been out of place on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” circa 1954. Even the losers left the ballroom grateful to have given their careers a lift.

Before the Iraq war veteran J. R. Martinez beat out Rob Kardashian in the finale, David Arquette made use of the show to change his image from tabloid bad boy to giggly leading man, and Nancy Grace revealed the vulnerable kitten hidden beneath her accusatory cable persona.

The success of the relentlessly feel-good “Dancing” is very much in keeping with a new-again TV spirit, a balm perhaps for the blow suffered to the blinged-out optimism of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Hard times have been made all the more vivid by the Occupy movement, which rendered 2011 a cousin to the revolutionary years 1848 and 1968. So when those of us not actively positioning ourselves on either side of the barricades find ourselves navigating TV offerings, we may be a little more inclined to settle on shows that provide civility and escape, no matter how Jell-O-like they render our brains.

Consider “American Idol.” After roughly a decade of stellar ratings, “Idol” had a falloff in its 2009 season, which, perhaps not so coincidentally, was the last with the asp-tongued Simon Cowell as its dominant p

Viewers who relished his casually sadistic turns of phrase figured the show would lose not only its zing but also its very reason for being when it returned, in 2010, with the friendly Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler filling the time once gleefully devoured by the man in the snug black T-shirt. But improved ratings suggested such worries were unfounded. On TV, these days, nice guys finish first.

It’s a shift that hasn’t been lost on the shrewd Mr. Cowell himself, who has made a fortune gauging the masses’ ever-changing moods. On a recent edition of his new Fox show, “The X Factor,” the onetime meanie offered not only high praise for a contestant named Stacy Fisher, but also something more concrete: “I think you want to give me a kiss, don’t you?” he said, before stepping away from his product-placement Pepsi and planting a smooch. Unaccustomed to this reformed Mr. Cowell, Ms. Fisher was as stunned as Bob Cratchit on the morning after Christmas when Scrooge gave him a raise.

The game-show genre, once a space where it was acceptable to leap and whoop in spasms of childish want, is also moving toward goodness and light. The contestants on “You Deserve It” on ABC play not for themselves but for someone else in need. All that jumping for joy is altruistic rather than self-interest.

The niceness has also melted the once-icy environs of NBC’s Thursday night sitcom block. This is where “Seinfeld” held sway in better times, with an amusing nihilism that stuck a pin in the chubby, happy Clinton days. The dictum laid down for “Seinfeld” by its main writer, Larry David, was “no hugging, no learning,” a rule flouted this season by its increasingly sentimental descendants, “Parks and Recreation” and “The Office.”

As its doodle-dee-doo theme song suggests, “Parks and Recreation” ranks high on the niceness scale, even as it pokes fun at the notion of Midwestern politesse.