Coaching and Learning
Diverse literature must be meaningful. I received this for my birthday earlier in the year and it is simply amazing.
It’s too long to be read in a single sitting, especially for the younger kids, but it is full of wonderful, RAD women. It’s nonfiction, a genre not as readily utilized in the primary ages, it highlights a history not readily included, and it covers the alphabet–add this to my favorite alphabet books!
I found this image and the links to it on theconsciouskid on Instagram.
As I stated in my previous post, throughout my entire teaching career I knew that children’s books lacked diversity. I knew that required reading lists, recommended reading lists, and the availability of representative literature in any library was lacking–lacking in terms of culture, language, ethnic, racial, and religious representation.
What I did not grasp, until I saw this image and began a deeper investigation, was how much more work, effort, and searching is required on my part to actually find the few books that are available. What I did not grasp was why I had always had a hard time finding quality, and numerous, options for my classroom.
I have worked in schools that are predominantly Latinx/Hispanic/Chicano and African/African-American/Black, my students deserve stories that mirror their experiences and their voices. Furthermore, even if my students were not predominantly LatinxHispanic/Chicano or African/African-American/Black, every child deserves to see themselves represented, and every child needs to learn how to see and listen to the stories of people unlike them.
This image is a sort of call, for me and you. The work is big, but if we do it together, if we advocate, and share, and make the effort, we can create a more equitable, representative, and inclusive classroom for our students–something each child not only has a right to, but that every child needs now more than ever.
Thinking about getting some books?
After discovering this collection by Chris Ferrie, it is the only collection I get for all the babies in my life. Check out everything Chris Ferrie–I love it all!
Our reading choices regularly neglect mathematics.
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There are tons of books that we happily read to babies. Nostalgia runs deep for cute plots, fuzzy characters, and a bit of laughter.
In our standardized book choices, children receive critical lap-time that develops vocabulary, phonemic and phonological awareness, and all other facets of beginning literacy.
At the same time, we have a plethora of games that continue to build these same skills. Nursery rhymes, hand games, I Spy, etc. all work together to build the requirements and awareness for children to begin reading and writing.
We are building fundamental, incredibly important, building blocks. That is good. That is commendable and absolutely needed.
However, I am here to point out that there is only a bit of math, at times, there is not a focused look on mathematical practice. There is less intention when it comes to the foundations of mathematics.
In my experience, in normal non-school settings as well as school-settings, the same attention to the building blocks of mathematics is absent–maybe minimally present, at best.
We do not speak math. We do not practice math. We do not notice math. Certainly not with the same veracity as we do letters and sounds.
So, this list of favorite books is focused on mathematical practice and discussion. If we can get kids excited and interested about mathematics, as babies, imagine how many more mathematicians–meaning engineers, architects, coders–we can support and create for the world!
Favorite math books for babies:
Favorite math books for young children:
C is for Camacho 