This blog is the culmination of a 50 year journey working in the public schools. Here is my story which will shed a light on what led me to promoting the importance of reading to the children in our lives. I was born into a hard working farm family with parents who had 8th grade educations and no opportunity to even attend high school. The only reading materials in our home were the Farm Journal and the Bible. I can never remember my mother or father sitting down with me to enjoy a good book and I rarely saw them reading. Though my parents had limited educational backgrounds, they knew the importance of expanding opportunities for their children, so going to college was a requirement. After changing schools and majors a couple of times, I finally landed on elementary education as a major. Due to a shortage of teachers at the time, I was hired to teach second grade at my home school with only two years of college and a provisional certificate. I had 33 second graders and not a clue. It was like on the job training while attending college at night to finish my degree. I survived through the support of other teachers and teacher manuals. The turning point for me came when I took a course called “Children’s Literature” in college. Our professor was a lover of children’s books and an expert on the relevancy of reading to children. She read to us some of the most amazing books ever written for children. As adults, we were mesmerized as she took us to places we had never been. It was magic! I finished my Bachelor’s degree and received a Masters in Reading. Over the years I taught first and second grade, Title I Reading and Reading Recovery and served as an Elementary School Principal. The importance of teachers, parents, grandparents, and caretakers reading to children became the theme of my career. My friend Patty and I worked together for years in the school setting. Patty has an amazing background in early literacy and I continue to learn from her. We decided to develop information for parents and caregivers on the best books that all children need to hear and ideas for presenting these wonderful stories. Literacy starts at birth and needs to be developed by exposing children to books early and every day.
So where does the “oven” part come into play. One summer Patty and I decided to bake cookies and muffins to sell at our local farmer’s market. We would bake for two full days and sell our goodies on Saturday mornings. It was lots of fun, but lots of work. Our venture only lasted one summer, but we still enjoy baking together. At some point in time we decided to combine our knowledge of early literacy and our love for baking. Our goal was to support early literacy techniques for parents and caretakers and to promote the value of cooking with children. The purpose of this blog is to share with readers some of the very best books that children need to experience and ideas that can be used by the reader to enhance the experience and foster literacy skills at the same time. Since cooking with our children, grandchildren, etc. is fun and can also be very educational in a number of ways, we have added recipes that accompany each book. We want to express the importance of making the reading and cooking experience fun and not work. These are times for bonding and enjoying each other. Here are some reasons why it is so important to read to the children in your life:
- You are developing the love of reading
- Reading fosters language and vocabulary development
- Reading a variety of books expands a child’s background knowledge
- You are developing basic literacy skills that will assist reading instruction in school
- Most importantly, you are bonding and developing memories that will last forever
Why is cooking with children important? Here are a few thoughts:
- Cooking fosters development in the areas of math and science
- Another opportunity to foster the importance of reading in a real life situation
- Developing an important life skill
- It is great family fun!
So here we go! Let’s begin reading and cooking with the children in our lives. With assistance from Patty, my blog posts will highlight a great book that children should hear and recipes to share. Remember, by reading and cooking together, you are giving gifts that will last a lifetime.
I cannot wait to make these recipes with my children! Every story chosen is essential to building foundational literacy skills and a love for reading!
What fantastic classic stories to share with young children!
I think I would make the recipes ahead of time to be able to enjoy them while reading.
Your passion for reading and being creative with food are wonderful gifts to give to others.
This is amazing and I can not wait to get these books and try these recipes. I too share the love of children’s books and that is all thanks to you Aunt Judy for showering me with them when I was growing up. I remember looking out Grandma Balls giant window at the end of every September waiting for the mailman to deliver my birthday box of books from you. I love you dearly & can’t wait to read more.❤
Our three sons all achieved exceptional academic success (they all went on to earn post-baccalaureate degrees/training) that launched them into successful adult careers in no small part due to their mom’s (that would be Judy) encouragement and help to read from the time they could hold a book. Starting kids down the path to literacy at an early age is absolutely essential, so encourage them to put down the “devices” and pick up a book (paper or digital). It will pay lifetime dividends. Oh, and she’s a great cook!
Hi Judy
I too have always loved reading! Over the years all 5 grsndkids have read these two books. Every Christmas Santa (yes I have one who cones to the house) brings books to all my grandkids even though there ages range from 4-17…..They all get books!
Thanks so much Kathy. I hope to continue posting new book ideas and recipes. I appreciate your support.
I love your website, Judy. Thanks for always sharing your love of books and children learning. I remember staff meetings and you sharing new books. You would read them to us and then give them away. You were a great principal and I will always cherish our days together.
Thank you, Barb. I loved those years at Lalumier. We were a family and you were a big part of that. I know that you are still helping children learn to read. Keep up the great work!
Hi Judy, I was just reading your blog and enjoying the many comments of others. I was a high school history teacher before I became a special education teacher. I was given the privilege to work with high school students with learning disabilities. This brings me to my point of this blog. I learned more than ever to respect the work of elementary teachers and those who contributed so much to the advancement of literacy in young children. Thank you for your part and I wish you continued success in your endeavor to bring reading for fun to young children.
Hi Sue. Thanks so much for your comments. They mean a lot coming from another educator with your background. I had the opportunity to work at our high school implementing a grant and I know that teaching high school is not easy. The district where I worked is in an urban setting with a poverty rate of about 95%. Our kids walked in the door with little early literacy development. Our families were living in a survival mode. It became very clear that preschool training was vital and educating parents on the importance of reading to their kids was a must. The Blog is an opportunity for my friend Patty and I to continue that work. Plus, it is just a lot of fun to find books and figure out recipes to go along with them. We hope to return doing workshops for preschool parents in some of our area schools. Thanks again for reaching out. Would love to sit and talk sometime. Take care of yourself.