5 Ways to Build Back to School Excitement

As September gets closer and closer that special feeling of returning to school never fails to wash over us. This time of year brings back such fond and visceral memories. The smell of fresh autumn air, the energized, electric feeling that buzzed through campus and the feeling of unlimited possibilities awaiting us in the year ahead. Here are 5 ways to get your children excited to go back to school.

1. Share your own favorite back to school memories.

Bring your child closer to your history by sharing what made you the most excited about going back to school when you were your child's age. Think about your favorite teacher, a book that you studied that changed your world (or your mind) or something cool that you learned in science class. It be fun for your child to think about walking in your footsteps, and she will be eager to tell you about her own experience and to reflect on how classrooms are the same or different than when you were in school.

2. Delight in new responsibilities.

Responsibility is hugely exciting for children who are constantly looking up to older students, siblings and dreaming of the day that they will finally be "grown up" enough to do all the things their role models can do. Talk about the unique experience of a second grader (or third grader, or fifth...) with you child. "You're becoming a leader at your school. This year you can be a younger student's reading buddy!" "I can't wait to come and watch the fifth grade muscial." Reach out to your child's teacher if you need specific examples, and pair academic growth with new responsibilities at home for extra excitement.

3. Read aloud back-to-school themed books.

Use your daily read aloud to share books about other children's (or animal's) experience at school. This will ease any anxiety or nervousness your child feels about returning to school when he sees that the characters he loves and admires share his feelings. Some LitWorld favorites include "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes and "Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes" by Eric Litwin. For older children try "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio and of course, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Ask your local librarian or bookstore owner for more suggestions!

4. Dear Future Self...

Ask your child to write down his dream for this school year. What does he hope to learn in class? How does he want his friends and teachers to describe him? What new clubs or teams will he join (or start)? Have him take these big goals and write a letter to his future self to be opened on the last day of the school year. This is great for personal goal setting, self-motivation and creating a positive, hopeful vision for the year ahead.

5. Go back prepared and ready to rock.

Reach out to your child's teacher to ask for some general details on this year's big learning goals, lessons and units. Give your child teasers about this information. "I heard that you're going to write an online blog about your favorite animal this year!" Take time to write a short book review or to learn a new fact that your child can share with his friends and teachers at school.

August News for You: The Ceremonies of Summer

This edition of our monthly newsletter is dedicated to everyone who feels that thump in your heart at the thought of summer. The thump that comes from the memory of a sun-soaked reading immersion, those literary adventures that took you away from the daily ordinary world, and the feeling you had while drifting into your books that the days were long and could last forever. We gave a lot of kids those "lit feelings" this summer in our LitCamps. Take a look.

Campers & Counselors Tell the Story of LitCamp Best

LitCampers use iPads and creative storytelling apps to tell their own stories.

Our Harlem LitCamp has wrapped up for another year, leaving a positive, permanent impact on all who experienced the magic in action. The growth of our campers as readers over the course of LitCamp was dramatic. Daily read alouds, active play and creative writing activities have made them strong and ready for the school year ahead. We also saw how much the traditions and ceremonies of LitCamp matter to the children, their teen counselors and our LitCamp interns. The younger LitCampers know exactly how many years it will be until they are old enough to take on the coveted role of teen counselor. The children created a weekly newsletter to share their special LitCamp culture. Click here to read camper interviews, poems, jokes and more!

Our LitCamp and Research & Development summer interns have also been blogging about their LitWorld experiences. Their reflections illuminate the soul of LitWorld. Isabelle wrote: "We cannot ring out every drop in every moment of life without breaking open its piñata and dancing in the shower of candy. At LitWorld, these tiny fiestas are constant, and it is through these celebrations of the big and small - the funny faces, the misunderstood song lyrics, the inexplicable inside jokes - that we realize the true gifts we have and the strengths we can share together."  
Click to read a beautiful post from each of our wonderful interns.

LitWorld Haiti Keeps the LitCamp Summer Going

LitCamp inspires fearless writing and reading in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

A month-long LitCamp is underway at the LitWorld Innovation Hub in Port-au-Prince Haiti! The camp is bringing our inter-generational LitWorld family together. While the children read aloud, write creative stories, sing and play, our Moms Sewing LitClub is measuring and making school uniforms for the children (and joining in the fun too, of course). 

At the end of the month our team will join our partners The Children of Haiti Project and the TOYA Foundation in Haiti to lead training and professional development workshops with 20 young women leaders who will be growing our programs on-the-ground to serve even more children and families this year. We will also be co-running an intensive week-long LitCamp with our young women leaders to reach even more LitClub girls and boys. Our visit to the field will end with a community-wide LitFest celebration to share the powerful stories and extraordinary work that our LitCampers, leaders and Moms Sewing LitClub have been creating all summer long.

Stand Up for Girls with LitWorld on October 11th

Stand up for the girls who inspire you on October 11th, the Day of the Girl.

LitWorld's Stand Up for Girls program in honor of the October 11th Day of the Girl calls on people everywhere to celebrate the power of girls' own stories. Our programs have proven that giving girls access to transformational literacy, opportunities for creative expression and the support of peers and mentors leads to empowered girls who create social transformation in their communities. And yet two thirds of the world's illiterate people are women and girls.

Your voice matters. Use our Stand Up for Girls event kit and sample social media posts to spread the Stand Up for Girls movement in your community. For more on the urgent issue of girls' education read and share Pam Allyn's latest Huffington Post blog: "Where Are the Stories of Girls." 

5 Ways to Set (and Achieve) Big Reading Goals

This summer kids across the country have united to set a reading world record. They have been logging all of their minutes read through the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. If you've been following along then you've heard the glorious news: our nation's children have surpassed 220 million minutes read! This smashes the record set in 2013 and more importantly will permanently boost each participants' confidence, stamina and identity as a reader. In less than a month kids will head back to school. Let's use this amazing excitement and love for reading that has been nurtured over the summer as incentive for year-long literacy growth. Here are 5 tips for setting and achieving big reading goals this back-to-school season.

1. Let children own their reading goals.

Introduce your child to joyful goal-setting by giving him control over his reading life. Cultivating a healthy habit of challenging himself to see what he is capable of can and should start from an early age. Allowing him to set his own terms will make him accountable for his goals and it will also ensure that his goals are in line with who he is as a reader. Does he want to read 5 non-fiction books in 2 months? Does he want to read for 11 minutes after dinner each night? Does he want to read aloud to his pet hamster every morning? Support him in his mission to name goals that will present a joyful challenge.

2. Bring a buddy on board.

Doing anything with a friend is more fun, and having a buddy on board provides healthy competition and companionship. Your child will be more likely to dig deep and build reading muscles if he has someone to compare notes and progress with on a regular basis. Allowing your child and her friends to connect as readers will add a new dimension to the friendship. Discussing books and strategies for reading (where is the best place to read? why are some books harder to connect with than others?) brings new value to the act of reading.
 
3. Celebrate the milestones.

Decide with your child how you will track his progress towards each reading goal. Make a tracking chart or a sticker or badge system (for example, a sticker for every half hour read, five stickers equals a special badge) and display this chart in a special place in your home. Breaking up bigger goals into smaller milestones allows you to celebrate each extraordinary step your child takes and it also breaks the goal into smaller, achievable steps.

4. Remember that minutes matter.

For all readers, and struggling readers especially, make it clear that becoming a strong reader is not about finishing a book. Each precious minute that your child reads matters. Regardless of whether or not your child has reached a mini-milestone, affirm his hard work after every effort that he devotes to his reading goals. Make his growth evident to him by letting him know when he reads for even one minute longer than the day before. Gradual changes can be hard for children to notice as they are happening, having you as a coach and champion goes a long way.

5. Mix it up.

Keep your child engaged in reading goals by adding variation to your "mini challenges." Make sure to vary the time period for each (make month or longer goals, but also make week-long goals) and create themed challenges around the seasons or special events and occasions. Your child may decide to read only animal-themed books in October or poetry books in April. Another idea is to pair reading with an action. For a running and reading challenge your child could decide to run for as many minutes as he is able to read.

Stand Up for Girls with LitWorld on October 11th

Stand Up for Girls with LitWorld on October 11th, the Day of the Girl, and be part of a social movement that brings people of all ages and genders together to spread the power of girls' stories.

Around the world over 500 million women and girls cannot read or write. 150 million girls never get the chance to go to school. What prevents girls from becoming literate and going to school? Extreme poverty, early marriage and childbirth, fear of violence and persecution from extremists who fear educated girls.

But the Stand Up for Girls movement is about hope, joy and the power of story. Because when all girls have the chance to become literate and have safe spaces and outlets to honor and celebrate their own stories, extraordinary things will happen. Literacy is the path to a self-determined, hopeful and independent future and it grows best from writing and telling our own stories. 523 million stories, opinions, ideas and innovations are ready to change our world. Let's not let them go unheard any longer.

How can you help?

Thanks for asking. We need you to spread the word online. Here are simple actions that you can take along with sample social media posts. Copy, paste and post any of the messages, or use them as inspiration to tell your own story.

1. Rally your friends and followers.

Tell everyone why you will stand up for girls on October 11th and share the link to the LitWorld website to provide context and additional information about the movement.

Sample social media posts:

Every girl has the power to change the world with her own stories. I will #standup4girls with LitWorld on 10.11.14 http://litworld.org/standupforgirls

523 million girls can't read or write. What if every girl had the chance to tell her story? #standup4girls on 10.11.14 #dayofthegirl

My hope for the world's girls? Independent, self-determined futures. #standup4girls with LitWorld on 10.11.14 #bethestory

2. Tell your story.

Each year we ask our community to make this movement personal by telling their own stories of strength and inspiration. Find your connection to the issue of girls' literacy by reflecting on your own story, and the stories of the women and girls who have shaped your life. Use the prompt: "I am the story of _____" to get started. You may also want to add a photo related to your story or to answer the prompt in video form.

Sample social media posts:

I am the story of my mother becoming the first in her family to go to college. #standup4girls #bethestory

I am the story of falling asleep with books in my bed & using my words to spread laughter and kindness. #bethestory #standup4girls

I am the story of starting a girls' football league because throwing like a girl means touchdowns & triumph. #bethestory #standup4girls

I am the story of Jane Goodall because she taught me that my love for animals could become my life's work. #standup4girls #bethestory

3. Invite your friends into the movement directly.

Let your friends know that you want to hear their stories too. Take advantage of the tagging features of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to invite your friends by name into the Stand Up for Girls movement.

Sample social media posts:

Twitter: I am the story of keeping a journal because of my hero, Harriet the Spy. @[Name of Friend] what's your story? #standup4girls #bethestory

Facebook or Instagram: I am the story of traveling the world to visit the homelands of my beloved book characters. @[Name of Friend] I will #standup4girls on 10.11.14 so that every girl can go on book adventures. Stand up beside me! What's your story?

5 Ways to Cultivate Your Child's Literacy Leadership

Building a community that values reading, writing, sharing and listening to stories lays the foundation for tolerance, creativity, innovation and joy. A strong literacy culture spreads through individuals sharing the joy and love for reading and writing. We see our LitClub and LitCamp children and teens acting as literacy leaders every day in their own communities. LitClub grads become library leaders and junior LitClub mentors for younger children and LitCampers aspire to become LitCamp counselors to follow in the footsteps of their beloved teen counselors. Here are 5 ways to cultivate your child's literacy leadership. 

1. Find Diverse Mentors

Whether it is a grandparent, an older sibling, a neighbor, local bookstore owner or another inspiring leader, surround your child with people who are active in your community and passionate about reading. Have these role models talk to your child about the things they care about, sharing what inspired them to engage in community service and the steps they took to get where they are today. Have each mentor highlight how reading and writing play a role in the work they do and set up a time for you and your child to volunteer together in support of each mentor's organization or cause.

2. Learn About Great Leaders in History

Learning about great leaders will show your child that leadership can take many different forms. From Martin Luther King Jr. to Jane Goodall to Wangari Maathai, expose your child to a diverse group of change-makers. Learn about each leader's passion and inspiration and talk about the different tactics they used to change their community and our world. Through this exploration your child will discover that no two are exactly the same and that each had a very different leadership style. Yet all leaders use their literacy to communicate their vision for change and to rally others to take up their cause.

3. Make it a Group Activity

Taking action in the community can and should be done with friends. Your child is at her most comfortable when surrounded by the people she loves and trusts. Whether it's organizing a book swap in the community, taking a group reading challenge or volunteering to read aloud with younger children at the library, help your child and her friends research opportunities to get involved with the community as a group. Having the support of peers allows your child to build confidence as a leader and to build strong memories with friends that are centered around civic engagement.

4. Re-imagine the Lemonade Stand

As tasty and refreshing as lemonade stands can be, your community is ready for a new curbside attraction. Devote a weekend to a literacy-themed booth on your front lawn (or apartment lobby). One great way to offer a reading treat to your neighbors is free read alouds. Pick some of your child's favorite titles (for these are the books he will feel most confident reading aloud) and set up a cozy reading blanket or cluster of lawn chairs. Your child will feel like a reading hero when younger children are captivated by his reading or when older children and adults thank him for reminding them of the joy and relaxation that comes from hearing a story read aloud.

5. Make Leadership Rooted in Love

We are all searching for ways to connect to others and to our world. This connection comes from finding what we truly care about, defining what we value and using this as the center of our life's work. Learning to cultivate these passions and to take action to nurture and protect these interests is the route to leadership and civic engagement. Does your child love animals? Contact a local animal shelter or environmental group to see if they have children's or family programs. Pair your child's participation in volunteer or after school programs with reading and writing exploration. Find newspaper articles or blogs related to each issue to familiarize your child with current events related to what he cares about and encourage him to write his opinion in response to what he learns either in a personal notebook, in a letter to the editor or on a blog.

Fangirls & Fiestas

It's hard to believe that our extraordinary summer interns will be heading back to college soon! Here with the final post in our internship series is Isabelle Danforth Stillman. Isabelle grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and just finished her sophomore year at Middlebury College, majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. This fall she is spending a semester in Nepal conducting independent research on girls' access to education in metropolitan Katmandu and rural Himalayan villages. 

When I joined the LitWorld intern team, I imagined I would learn about global literacy, alternative education, storytelling, and collaborative productivity – and indeed, I have. But I did not predict that by the end of the summer, I would know so much about fangirling.

For those of you who are as out of tune with pop culture as I am, to fangirl (v.) means to exercise enthusiastic fixation on a fictional character or celebrity through internet tracking and communal discussion, usually accompanied by shortness of breath, heightened vocalization, and notebook doodling. (I think.)

While I have yet to delve into fangirl activity myself, I’ve gotten a taste of the culture through the LitClub girls my fellow intern Melissa and I have met throughout the summer. Both the teens and middle school girls, though initially flabbergasted at our fangirl naivete, have eagerly filled us in on the latest Vine sensation’s post or hearthrob’s concert tour, with out-of-the-chair re-enactments and bursts of belly laughter.

Learning how to fangirl with the best teachers imaginable (the middle schoolers of LitWorld's Harlem LitClub).

Though it might seem to a third party that these conversations are frivolous or inconsequential, I’ve found that in these moments of silliness and animation lies the true soul of LitWorld. I believe all Seven Strengths are flexed in a moment of talking about something that makes you want to jump out of your chair and hurt your stomach in a fit of giggles. In tasting each other’s joy, we are nourished by the sweetness of another’s spirit; we step farther into their corner, closer to the voice in their mind and the flutter in their heart, and deeper into the maze of their story.

Sometimes joy comes in unexpected circumstances. On Skype a few weeks ago, Melissa and I played Rose, Bud, Thorn with the Power Women, a group of HIV positive women who found each other and LitWorld in Kibera, Kenya. Doreen, Roda, Marla, Mary, and Helen said their Roses were that they were feeling better that week than they had the last. Many of the women said their bud was the political rally that was happening the following Monday; several of them also named the rally as their Thorn because they were nervous about it. The women's Thorns varied, and several of them said they had no Thorn that week. The women were, and always are, so happy - joking with each other, clapping and cheering after each person shares, and hooting in laughter any chance they get.

Dancing with the Power Women Moms LitClub of Kibera over Skype.

We laugh a lot at LitWorld: in the office over Ana’s latest food challenge woes, via Skype while dancing with the Power Women, or at the Polo Grounds when Melissa and I ask for a clarification of which lead singer belongs to which boy band. And each time we experience laughter together, we express another scene of our own story, and read a passage from someone else’s.

When I picture a “learning experience as an intern,” the image that comes to mind is of coffee-carrying and fax-sending, learning to follow orders and meet deadlines. And while I've had my fair share of runs to the printer, and evolved in my style of work ethic, the deepest and truest moments of learning at LitWorld for me revolve around ear-to-ear smiles, happy-squinting eyes, and doubled-over laughing.

We cannot ring out every drop in every moment of life without breaking open its piñata and dancing in the shower of candy. At LitWorld, these tiny fiestas are constant, and it is through these celebrations of the big and small – the funny faces, the misunderstood song lyrics, the inexplicable inside jokes – that we realize the true gifts we have and the strengths we can share together.

5 Activities To Make Reading & Writing Feel Like Summer Camp

At LitCamp reading and writing are as beloved and popular as every sports activity or big game. We asked our LitCamp interns to share some of their kid-tested and approved reading and writing activities that highlight the joy and adventure of reading and will unleash your child's creativity. Bring summer camp into your home with these five activities.

1. Storytime Yoga 

This activity lets children work their wiggles while enjoying a relaxing read aloud. It's easy to combine storytelling and yoga movements using any picture book with a cast of animals in it (or another repeating theme like shapes or letters). Start by paging through the picture book and decide on a movement or pose for each animal featured in the story. For example, you might decide to stand on one leg for a flamingo or lay on your stomach for a snake. Practice the movements and then get ready to read aloud. As you read the story, pause every time an animal appears to allow the children to get into that pose (and perhaps even make that animal's sound).

2. Paper Bag Superheroes

We've all thought about what it would feel like to fly or to be invisible. Have your child bring his super hero imaginings to life by designing paper bag superheroes. Using the fold of the paper bag as a mouth, children will draw and decorate the paper bag with markers, construction paper and any other decorations that strike their fancy. Then it's time to capture the uniqueness of each superhero in a short biography. Ask your child to write down his superhero's name, superpowers, favorite color, weaknesses and any other important tidbits that the world needs to know!

3. Heart maps 

A universally beloved LitWorld activity is the heart map. To make a heart map, draw the outline of a heart on a piece of paper and fill it with words and drawings about the people, things, and roles that are important to you. Many of our LitCampers also divide up the space to show which words or roles are the most important to them (the bigger the section, the more imporant). It is always powerful to see which things children see as the most important in their own lives, and the similarities that many heart maps share.

4. Cooking Across Cultures

A great way to encourage your child to be an adventurous eater is to involve him in the cooking process from start to finish. For an "Around the World” themed week at our Harlem LitCamp we wanted to introduce the campers to some awesome cooking activities from various cultures around the world. We made guacamole, (candy) sushi and pizza. Spin the globe or go on Google maps to choose countries that your child is curious about. Start by finding recipes and having your child write down lists of ingredients and materials needed to make each recipe. Work together to prepare and cook each dish and then talk about what you liked and didn't like about each flavor. You can use this exercise to dig a little deeper and explore why different countries and cultures may have different foods and why this is important.

5. Make an Interactive Newspaper

We are using the intuitive and kid-friendly Padlet to produce a weekly LitNewspaper. ("It's sort of like the New York Times.") It's a great way to show off a wide variety of media and the drag-and-drop, point-and-click nature of Padlet is extremely user-friendly. Aside from being a wonderful memento to share with friends, creating an online newspaper also let's your child practice the art of curation and summarizing bigger stories in short blurbs to capture a reader's interest.