#Children’s literacy

[andrewjbernhard]

Great 2024 of Community Service: Bernhard Law Firm Volunteering with Uplift Literacy

As 2024 comes to a close, we are thankful for the great work of Uplift Literacy, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children in underserved communities develop essential literacy skills. What a great program!

[booksinmythorax]

My dear friends: When a librarian or teacher says "Audiobooks count as reading", we do not literally mean that audiobooks are the same as decoding visual meaning via symbols representing sounds. We mean, among other things:

Audiobooks can expose listeners to new vocabulary and forms of syntax.

Audiobooks can present listeners with long-form fictional narratives with engaging characters, interesting literary devices, and poetic turns of phrase.

Audiobooks can teach listeners new information in a long-form manner that goes into depth or wide breadth on a particular subject or subjects.

Audiobooks can help listeners' verbal comprehension skills.

Audiobooks can do all these things without presenting the same difficulties to blind, low vision, partially sighted, visually impaired, or dyslexic listeners; listeners with ADHD; listeners who experience physical difficulty with holding a book or e-reader; or listeners who are disabled in a host of other ways that a physical book or e-reader might present.

The written word is not specially imbued with magical noble worth above the spoken word, and if you think it is, you may have some ableism and/or racism to deconstruct.

[underwater0firework]

me in 2016, age 12: I.... think Bill and Ford had a gay situationship literally everyone else, 8 years later: OH IS THAT WHAT IT IS!?!

[remma-demma]

I think some people don’t realize homestuck is a story about storytelling.

I was thinking about people insisting the Epilogues, hs^2, or Beyond Canon aren’t canon. And like. Yeah, that’s the point.

What does it mean to be canon anyway? Stories that get tied up in neat little bows are hard to expand upon. What happens after the happily ever after?

You can take it the direction of mundane day to day fluff (candy) or send them on another world shattering adventure (meat) but neither one is really real because… it’s a story. Homestuck was never really real. They’re both real. None of them are real.

This is all so clearly spelled out in the post canon material that I’m forced to assume they just. Have not engaged in it and / or ignore it on principle.

[disabled-dragoon]

"Why are children's literacy levels dropping? Kids just don't want to read books anymore."

Books can be pretty expensive and we're in the throws of a cost of living crisis

Theres been a steady increase in the policing of children's and young adult literature

Theres been a steady decline in public libraries

It's not a statutory requirement for schools to have a library

Even if schools do have a library, kids don't always have easy access to it/aren't allowed in it

Kids can be cruel. If they're taught to shame reading, they might see fit to shame other kids for reading and continue the cycle.

Shaming or ignoring kids who struggle to or can't read physical books instead of showing them alternatives or helping them find ways to make it easier doesn't help the situation

The problem isn't just the kids. Don't put this all on their shoulders.

[scorpiusmalfoylovesoscarwilde]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. I AM SICK AND BLOODY TIRED OF THESE MFS, HALF OF WHO DONT EVEN CARE ABOUT CURSED CHILD, BITCHING AND MOANING ABOUT AN ANGSTY TEEN DARING TO BE AN ANGSTY TEEN, I WILL FIGHT THE LOT OF YOU

(this is gonna be a bit long and probably incoherent so sit down and fucking listen to me 🔫 stick with me because I'm not just complaining about albus haters)

eVERYBODY wants cOoMmpllEeXx relatable HUMAN characters - and then SHIT themselves when the flaws a CHILD has isn't just 🥺 uwu im socially awkward and traumatised 🥺. that's why scorpius doesn't get this fuckass treatment, because his terrible human flaw is that he's a bit shit at conversation and gets sad about his dead mum (generalised understatement, but this post isnt about him. dont come for me i love him 🫶🏻)

god forbid albus, who feels unloved and unwanted (with valid evidence for a teenager), albus who feels completely out of place and outcast from his entire famously-close-knit family, ablus who is well known by the world by default via Harry and hates the attention and high expectations, albus who then gets targeted and bullied by his peers because he's not as perfect and brilliant as his father, albus who is then isolated from his one friend because Harry is making irrational ptsd fueled decisions, albus who tells Harry completely sincerely that he knows he's unlikeable but he'll try and change himself and be more like his siblings because he genuinely believes that's what Harry and everyone else whos had the misfortune of meeting him wants, albus who spends the entire play trying to prove himself and fix things via idiotic childish decisions BECAUSE HES A WHOLE UNSTABLE CHILD

god forbid that CHILD doesn't react like a patient, supported, well adjusted, level headed adult. god forbid he reacts outwardly. god forbid he reacts at all, my bad. clearly he should just sniffle a bit as if he doesn't feel suffocated and helpless by everything in his life, because obviously hes just a spoiled brat who doesn't know what real suffering is. god forbid he complains or feels anything negatively, or doesn't quite grasp that other people are struggling too because he is too busy trying so hard to deal with himself and his declining mental health the best he can with basically no support or understanding. god forbid he isn't completely perfect.

you all sound like some fucking boomer telling teenagers they don't know what real struggling is, they aren't mentally ill, they dont have any problems because they have a roof over their head, they should all go to war kids are too soft these days 😫😖😱 fUCKING‼️SHUT UP‼️

he does things wrong but he knows he does and he does everything he can to fix it! and he is fourteen!!! do none of you remember what being fourteen is like 😭😭 I swear half of you have got to be basically fourteen yourselves cmon man

cause I'm seeing this fucking pattern a lot recently. not just for albus, not just in this fandom, everywhere. ‼️ no one can fucking handle flawed characters anymore ‼️ the only thing any character is allowed to have wrong with them is trauma apparently, otherwise they have to be perfect, and I'm getting sick of it. characters and stories are meant to reflect real life, they're meant to help shape our world view, why are you expecting everyone to be fucking perfect??? what happened to nuance? what happened to understanding character development? you are all acting like characters and people are so black and white. either they're perfect or they're insufferable and evil. I won't lie, the most common victims i've noticed of this are women. but the flawed women are typically demonised, whereas the men are typically turned into uwu baby boys who actually aren't capable of doing anything wrong and then fanon goes nuts making them into ittle wittle victims. and I'm so fucking sick of all of it, I hate this. (obviously this is not a strict rule. Albus Potter, and also Albus Dumbledore now I mention it, are demonised beyond belief)

BRING BACK FLAWS AND BRING BACK NOT COMPLETELY WRITING OFF A CHARACTER BECAUSE THEY DARE TO BE HUMAN

I AM FED UP, ALBUS POTTER GET BEHIND ME

[communistkenobi]

do not want to start a fight but isn’t this totally normal. in middle school you’re like what 11 years old? I didn’t know any of this shit at that age and that has not made my life difficult as an adult even remotely. in particular I was shit at touch typing and remember being miserable in class because I was horrible at it and now I’m perfectly comfortable touch typing because I’m no longer 11 years old. I’ve taught several semesters of upper year undergraduates (meaning all of them were over the age of 21-22) in a similar coding/technical class setting who didn’t know anything about windows file structures and it was fine, they didn't blow up their computers or bring about the downfall of civilisation, they eventually picked it up over the 12 weeks of the semester because that’s how learning works

[mando-abs]

Guys, I’ve read the Wild Robot

And let me tell you, if I hadn’t recently taken a Children’s Literature class in college, I would’ve said this was the best middle-grade book I’ve read since elementary/middle school. I almost read this book in one night (I was sleepy 😴) like I couldn’t put it down.

The heart behind this book is astounding and it never shies away from showing complex and difficult concepts. You will fall in love with Roz and her gosling son along with all of the other animal on the island.

If you’ve got younger ones, I highly recommend reading this to them or having a little book club moment with them. However, be prepared for whatever hard questions may come your way (i.e. circle of life and climate issues). You know your child and how much they can handle/understand. If you’re like me and much older, it’s a quick read and a great way to finish off a long day. It’s a part of a trilogy and you bet I’m patiently waiting for my hold on a copy at the library.

If the movie is anything like the book (which, given a rewatch of the trailer, it’s looking like so), we are in for a special treat.

[c1trvswurld]

Haven't interacted with the mtl fandom anymore bc I simply don't like it as much for a multitude or reasons but I saw a post saying you shouldn't ship Charles with any of the members bc those are his "kids" and I physically said "that's an opinion of all time" out loud. And it reminded me why I stopped being in it sm.

[beigetiger]

It’s fucking over you guys. What the fuck.

[camscendants]

I found the Craziest Arcane take in a YouTube comment section

[shoku-and-awe]

Okay, so we are well into December at this point, but does anyone feel like doing an advent calendar? Because there's something I've always wanted to show you guys and never have: THE LATEST LITERACY WALLCHART FOR CHILDREN.

Redacted for suspense purposes.

It’s made of a brittle plastic that if you shake it goes wooba-wooba-wooba, and I imagine it used to hang in an English classroom somewhere in China. It has the conceit of being a poster OF a poster held up by a small child—you can see his little fingers and toes! It has illustrations of 25 different fruits and vegetables, all with their names and one "fun fact" each.

The fun facts are........ all I can say is that they are all over the place, in the best possible way. It's impossible to convey the unhinged joy of this chart, so I'm just gonna show you.

What a strong start! Honestly, I really can't decide which of these I like the most. In terms of important advice, you really can't beat "a potato is not same as a sweet potato." And, as both a linguist and a food person, I am always so charmed by the mismatched plural and deranged sentiment of "these cucumber are really tender." Tender?? Tender cucumbers??? Finally, the sentence "mum always orders me to have much chinese cabbage" has so much personality and flavor. It could be the first line of a novel! And it is also establishes an illustrious tradition of proofreading, where you get to call the same vegetable by two different names in the same breath. Very helpful for beginner language learners!

Anyway, that's the first four, so we are on track to finish by New Year's Eve EST. Check back to learn some really important fruit and vegetable facts and make your December a little sillier!

[proselles]

i havent met a single megumi hater who didn't miss the entire point of the fucking manga

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

like i see people say stuff like “rei is a deconstruction of the idea of like the perfect girl in a male gaze-y way” and and i'm ready to agree until they go “it’s because she’s creepy and weird and bad!” like no. rei's a deconstruction of misogynistic ideas of womanhood because they’re ideals forced upon her that damage her, not because she’s in any way “creepy”. like, the fact she’s a fourteen year old girl who was basically used as a substitute wife by her father bc she looked like his own dead wife is not something that is meant to make rei look bad like holy shit.

like both rei and asuka are very obviously like. showing fantasised and misogynistic ideas of an idealised woman don’t work irl yeah. shinji's misogynistic view of them is wrong. but that’s not because rei and asuka are bad people it’s because like. “fourteen year old who's flirty and seductive” and “fourteen year old who's a quiet obedient object” are major signs of abuse and trauma and anyone actually acting in those ways at that age clearly isn’t normal. asuka is desperate for attention in any way she can get it, even unhealthy and dangerous ways. rei is at the very least I has a weird pseudo-incestous enmeshment filled abusive relationship with her father, even if she's not actively being sexually abused. asuka is seeking support, rei is a grooming victim. these are not things that are flaws in their character the entire point of subverting the expectations is to show how those expectations are unhealthy to rei and asuka like. god.

[archivlibrarianist]

From this article:

"The article included photos of several handwritten lists of books that students have requested their libraries bring in. Normally, librarians would order these right away to keep students’ interests, as long they are a good fit for the collection. Now, librarians are holding onto these long lists in the hopes they can order them in the future — in the meantime, though, many students have gotten tired of waiting and stopped going to the library at all."

That's the goal. That's why they're doing this. Don't let them win.

[abouttwocats]

some of ya'll would benefit from realizing that not every piece of media is for you and thats okay.