Secret Society (Reading Magic by Mem Fox)

This is a very interesting read!
So much of what she says strikes a strong chord with me.

"...I'm most passionate when I speak as an ordinary mother. Reading aloud to my daughter was a fabulous experience. We bonded through all sorts of marvelous books. We came to know and love each other better through the variety of stories we shared. I hadn't realised that reading aloud regularly would mean Chloe would learn to read without being taught...

When we take the time to read aloud to the children in our lives, we bond closely with them in a secret society associated with the books we've shared. The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks that fly when a child, a book, and the person reading make contact...We have such a rollicking good time, and we relate so warmly to our kids as we read together, that it becomes a delicious 'chocolate' kind of experience...

Reading aloud and talking about what we're reading sharpens children's brains and helps develop their ability to concentrate at length, to solve problems logically, and to express themselves more easily and clearly. The stories they hear provide them with witty phrases, new sentences and words of subtle meaning...

Because words are essential in building the thought connections in the brain, the more language a child experiences - through books and conversation with others, not passively from television - the more advantaged socially and educationally that child will be for the rest of his or her life...

One of the unsung but cozy effects of reading aloud is the private language that develops in families through shared language and shared book experience...We were knitted into the same familial fabric by a book language that meant nothing to people outside our immediate little trio. It was a private 'togetherness' code that connected us all...

So great is the power of reading aloud that Moreen Fielden, headmistress of The Gillespie School, a private elementary school in San Diego, reads aloud to her entire school every Friday..."


There'll be more on this, later.

from Reading Magic by Mem Fox