Category Archives: Literacy by 10

When we think of apps for kids, we often think of games for either entertainment or learning. But apps aren’t limited to just games or books—they can also provide important social, emotional, and physical experiences too. In Family Time With Apps, we explore how to find the best apps to fit your child’s needs, provide tips on how (and why!) to use apps together, and highlight resources to make the process of selecting apps less overwhelming, and more fun. To help you…

This post was originally published on The Hechinger Report and appears here with permission. Over the past several years, at the same time that the words “screen time” became shorthand for children zoning out, several researchers and educational experts have been taking an entirely different track. They have been studying how and at what age children come to learn words, follow stories, and grasp educational concepts that appear in ebooks, videos, and apps. New experiments on The Adventures of SuperWhy!, Peg+Catand…

During a recent visit to a local public library, a kindergarten class took over the children’s room. Many in the group were already familiar with the space thanks to storytimes and regular visits with family members to check out books or DVDs. For others, this visit was not just fun, but also a vital introduction to the many opportunities that the library offers. The kindergarteners may have initially come for storytime or a class visit, but the librarian’s not-so-secret plan,…

The following is an excerpt from an article originally published on EdCentral.org and appears here with permission. New job descriptions are born in the wake of new technologies. Now, as humankind absorbs two decades with the web and one decade of touchscreens and on-the-go internet, many new positions are taking shape, one of which could have a significant impact on how children and their families learn: the media mentor. Why are media mentors so crucial? As parents and educators find…

Over the past several years, New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop have become known for our book Tap, Click, Read and for our joint research and analysis on how digital technologies could be used to improve, instead of impede, early literacy.  Now our two organizations are going a step further: This month we are releasing a toolkit of materials designed to help educators and other leaders put these insights into practice to help children learn…

This month we’re kicking off a series of posts on media mentorship, a term coined by Lisa Guernsey in 2014. We’re thrilled to have Claudia Haines and Cen Campbell, authors of the recently released Becoming a Media Mentor: A Guide for Working with Children and Families, share their expertise as librarians. Have you been to your local public library lately? On any given day, all across the country, something amazing happens. Herds of young children, caregivers in tow, tumble through…

In celebration of Children’s Book Week and the power of storytelling throughout generations, we asked Cooney Center staff members to reflect on their favorite children’s books, along with the new stories they’re excited to share with their own children. We hope you’ll share your favorites, new and old, in the comments. Executive Director Michael Levine loved books that captured his imagination as a child, from Where the Wild Things Are to Goodnight Moon. “Two other favorites were Stone Soup and Brother Eagle, Sister Sky—I loved…

We’re very excited to announce that Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens, a new book by Lisa Guernsey and Michael Levine,  is now available for purchase online and in bookstores. In Tap, Click, Read, Lisa and Michael argue that in order to build strong literacy skills for all young children regardless of their family’s socioeconomic background, we—the adults around them—must fundamentally rethink how a child becomes a fluent reader, and provide the best support that we…

Now that digital technologies—and touch-screen tablets in particular—are finding their way into preschool and kindergarten classrooms, educators are faced with multiple questions about if, how, and when it is best to introduce them to young children. On September 3rd, the U.S. Department of Education brought together nearly 60 people from across the early childhood field to think through what would be of most help. At least three needs became apparent throughout the day: Educators and parents need  succinct, research-based messages…

Today, young children have access to more technology than ever, and families of almost all socio-economic backgrounds are making smartphones and other Internet-enabled devices part of their daily lives. Many early education programs around the country are beginning to determine how they might harness these tools to engage with parents, improve home-to-school connections, and otherwise augment efforts to help children develop early language and literacy skills. Last week, New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop launched an…