MPF is on the same page as Sorrento Writer’s Festival when it comes to early years reading. From Cradle to Grave: How To Inspire Children to Become Lifelong Readers, features authors Jane Godwin, Sally Rippin, and illustrator Megan Hess in conversation with Corrie Perkin.
Of particular relevance to MPF’s work with schools to improve literacy, is Sally Rippin’s book Wild Things – How we learn to read and what can happen if we don’t.
Sally shares her personal story of her son Sam struggling to learn to read. She writes, “Sam wasn’t progressing at all. In fact, he seemed to be going backwards. Not only was he still struggling with the lowest level of reader in the class set, he was beginning to say things like, ‘I hate books’, ‘I hate reading’ and eventually ‘I hate school.’ This is precisely the experience that MPF’s school community partners are seeking to change for students and families, so that they remain engaged in learning.
Sally also writes, “One of the most important things I have learned from researching this book is how often children can be misunderstood: how ‘bad’ behaviour, especially in the classroom is usually a sign that something else is simmering beneath the surface, and it is our job, as the adults who care for these children, to try to figure out what is going on for them, as few will have the ability to articulate this for themselves.”
We look forward to seeing many of you at the Festival and to continuing the conversation about the importance of all children being in learning environments where learning to read is made possible.
Thank you to Festival Director Corrie Perkin for her interest and support of MPF’s work with schools and literacy.