Print by Ruth Mary Hallock for Your Dollhouse

      Ruth Mary Hallock (1876-1945) illustrated children’s books for half a century. One of her earliest works was, “Little Rhymes for Little Readers” published in 1903. Many of her popular illustrations were republished in 1950 editions of children’s storybooks after her death.

More Links to Ruth Mary Hallock’s Artworks:

• Illustrator Ruth Mary Hallock
• Early Illustrators of a Child’s Garden Verses
• “What they say in Rabbitville, 1935″ by Hallock

Print by Vera Stone Norman for Your Dollhouse

        Vera Stone Norman was born in Garden City in 1888. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1921. She is best known for the children’s illustrations she produced for magazine and books during the late 1920s and 30s. The majority of those books being Elementary text-books.

Above, Illustration of “brownies” (fairies) by Vera Stone Norman

Illustration of Deep Sea Divers by Vera Stone Norman.

Links to more Vera Stone Norman artworks:

• Illustrations by Vera Stone (Norman)

Grownups Don't Always Help

       Being reasonable in what we expect of children may entail a hardship for adults. If normal, happy, pig-tailed Judy doesn't master the complicated translation of clusters of letters to their correct words during the month, we feel our whole family tree is tottering in a destructive wind. We often feel that we must explain Judy's difficulty to friends and neighbors; we joke about "the beautiful but dumb member of the family"; we may even say how glad we are to have a "problem" child. 

       All this is rather certain evidence of the deep humiliation and disappointment we feel because Judy, rollicking, fun-loving Judy, is not such a success in reading. All of us who observe children, teachers, principals, and parents should know that learning to read with ability to recognize and remember more and more words, begins with some children even before kindergarten age, with others at six, seven, and even later. A careful study made in California discloses that children whose beginning in reading was postponed until after the first grade, caught up with, and in some cases even excelled others, who had started earlier. Some children mature more slowly than others. Why worry? Look at us, relaxed adults, who dare scan the formulas pertaining to atomic energy, but who cannot begin to tell what they mean. However, we feel quite adequate in handling our duties in daily life. Let's give children the same right to be themselves!

• Reading Progress: Too Fast or Too Slow? School Shorts with Melissa Chan-Green
• Why slow reading beats speed reading. by Sean D'Souza
• Overcoming shame as a slow reader

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Sure Road To Discouragement

       The hardest, perhaps, of all suggestions to apply is that of recognizing a child's ability in terms of what he can do satisfying and helping him to feel adequate at that point. In other words, avoid goading a child to do better when he is already putting his best efforts into what he is doing. Exhorting Ann to do as well as older or even younger sister Edith may rob Ann of her feeling of security at home. All disciplinary treatment of children with reference to their reading needs careful examination. Taking away their books, saying, "You can't read this until you do better in arithmetic," may make a child reject both arithmetic and reading. A negative reaction may be the result if a child, eagerly at work on some special hobby, is denied working on the hobby as a means of goading him to improve his reading ability. Wouldn't it be hard on us adults if standard tests of our fitness for work were based on our ability to read music, drive a golf ball straight on a fairway full of hazards, or repair an electric sewing machine? We adults are sufficiently able to avoid such standard-setting hurdles. Yet, in "old meany" fashion we have delighted in, even bragged about, setting high often impossible standards for children. Then, to make matters worse, we have put pressure on children, urged them to live up to these expectations. The result may be the very opposite from what we seek; the child may become discouraged, fretful, lose interest, and finally say, "I don't want to read! I hate it." The wiser, safer, and more effective approach is for the parent and child to explore some new field together: such as looking at seed catalogs for interesting looking flowers, searching for the funniest comics, or looking at pictures in a mail-order-house catalog. The emphasis here should be placed on finding new or desirable things, not on learning to read. 

       The most common pressure periods occur during first grade, eighth grade, and senior year of high school. That is when many schools set up promotion hurdles or standards for boys and girls to meet in order to progress satisfactorily beyond them. It is especially regrettable that the largest number of penalized learners are the young, defenseless six year olds. What a bad beginning for their school careers! No wonder such school practices are now being set aside in many up-to-date schools. In such schools, children are aided to grow their best each year and are helped in reading and other aspects of learning whenever they need help; there is no fixed standard to meet for promotion into the next grade. In this way, they remain interested in schoolwork, feel encouraged, and are in a proper mood for working and learning. 

       If a school still places frustrating, even injurious pressures on children, parents should do all they can to encourage the victimized child. He needs to be recognized at home for some accomplishment of his, and he must be given an important place in family affairs. In this way, the edge is taken off his humiliation, and even if he may not remain totally unaffected, he can at least feel secure in his family relationships, and perhaps be helped back to a hopeful approach to school and the chance to continue to learn.

• Your Child is NOT behind in Reading: Six things parents need to know...
• Does my child have Dyslexia? by Child Mind Institute
• No Fear Reading

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"I Like Superman!"

       As children reach the ages of eight and nine, many parents and teachers begin to struggle with the problem of youngsters' reading tastes. Before this time, children reach out for materials adults provide for them. But as they mature, they begin to share their reading interests with a wider circle of acquaintances, many of whom are older. A child at eight will champion something which he likes. "I don't care what anybody says, I like Superman!" is a remark heard by many an adult. The response to such declarations of preference should show respect for the child's right to make his own evaluations. After all, some women positively loathe sports pages, and think how many teachers recoil from the financial pages of the daily press! 

        Desire on the part of parents and teachers to develop taste has often come to naught. Part of this failure is due to the family's methods of approaching children; another reason is our failure to recognize the basic needs of children. We fail to realize their need for stories dealing with adventure and danger. We also fail to notice that interest in and need for reading about romance begin at the ages of twelve and fourteen. Censorship of reading matter for children seldom works; instead, it stimulates the development of "subversive" reading habits, in which children obtain books and magazines barred by home or school and circulate them among their private reading circles which are sure to exist.

        In general, fear that the child will develop poor reading tastes from reading trashy materials has been overstressed. It is preferable to place the emphasis on developing healthy interests, and making a wide range of wholesome reading matter easily available. Then, with a broad reading appetite, a child can include all manner of content, even the least desirable, without having his ability to appraise and discern impaired. However, differences of opinion are marked at this point. If our attitude is strongly against comics, movie stories, romance and thriller magazines, it might be wise to read some professional studies and opinions prepared by authorities on this problem. The Journal of Educational Sociology, which has devoted an entire issue to comics, is very helpful on this point. 

       And “What Books for Children?” by Josette Frank is another helpful reference. In the meantime, a matter-of-fact attitude toward a child's out-of-bounds interest in reading is a safer approach than one of alarm, derision, and absolute censorship accompanied with condemnation of poor judgment. Such interests often may appear suddenly, flourish briefly, only to be crowded out later by new and more wholesome activities.

• My child will only read graphic novels. Help!

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Building Reading Interest

       In case a child has serious learning challenges, special help by a person who is well liked and well equipped should be provided at a time when it does not take the child away from other desirable school or after-school activities. This means special help should not be offered during recess, gymnasium, ball practice, or other recreational periods. Furthermore, it should be personal. Helping thirty individuals at one time not only is impersonal, it is wasteful. It is interesting to note that the army plan for assisting low readers was to place them in groups averaging twelve, "because," said one major in charge, "reading help is a personal, man-to-man affair." And it should be so for children. 

       The general practice of working with children in small groups is desirable. Organizing the room so that a few children may work together and showing them how to be independent and responsible as they work are excellent aids in promoting learning. In the intimacy of a small group, the teacher may discover what each child's stage of growth is, and what help he needs. Demanding unwilling attention of all the children is thus avoided. Of course, when something having interest for the whole group comes up, all can be given an opportunity to share it. 

       Regular time for individuals to share ideas with others in the group, or enlist their aid, or discover their opinions may need to be set aside each day-even in a junior or senior high school class. A Latin teacher in a city high school devoted ten

       Regular time for individuals to share ideas with others in the group, or enlist their aid, or discover their opinions may need to be set aside each day-even in a junior or senior high school class. A Latin teacher in a city high school devoted ten minutes of each period to letting the youngsters "just talk." She reported the period as invaluable in helping her under- stand the interests and abilities of her teenage students. Also, the students were inclined to be prompt and eager in getting to the room rather than waiting to enter at the last minute. Furthermore, their interest in the discussion was likely to create a greater alertness in the Latin lesson of the day. These discussions were based on school affairs, current affairs, and questions for information along a great variety of lines. Some topics were discussed over a period of several days, with a great deal of voluntary reading and follow-up work.

       Another point of great importance is to make a youngster feel respected, no matter where he is in his reading development. If a ten-year-old cannot read regular fourth or fifth grade books, he should be shown how to enjoy the more pictorial and simpler books. Let us not be unmindful that this is a picture age for adults. Much adult pictorial material has pictures and valuable content for this preadolescent reader. Furthermore, such reading matter has the respectability of adult pursuits, therefore it is all the more acceptable to him. Even if he is interested solely in looking at the pictures, such activity is worth while, and keeps alive and promotes his interest in read- ing and in reading materials.

• Struggling to Fit in Reading Intervention? Learning At The Primary Pond
• Blending Sounds in Syllables by Reading Rockets

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High and Low

 High and Low

A fat golden pumpkin lay in a field,
A golden moon rode in the sky,
The pumpkin shouted, "Hallo there, brother!
Who put you ups so high?"

The man in the mood smiled a jolly smile
At the pumpkin far below--
"I'll light the sky while you light the earth,
On Hallowe'en, you know."

So the fat golden pumpkin smiled at the moon,
And the moon smiled back at him
All through the night till morning came
And the twinkling stars grew dim.

And each felt content with the task he had 
And called it a work of love.
Though one lay low on the cold black earth
And one rode high above.

Read aloud "The Scarecrow" by Beth Ferry.

Baker Rebus

 The Baker by Maude M. Grant

The golden wheat from the field,
Is ground into flour at the mill.
And the millers work busily every day,
The silos and sacks to fill.

The white flour goes to the baker.
In silos so big and round.
And he kneads and kneads the white dough,
And measures it pound for pound.

Then into the hot, hot oven,
He puts all the loaves so white,
And he also makes biscuits and cookies,
Working with all his might.

And out on the shelves of the bakeshop,
Are the loaves and the cookies and biscuits.
Oh, we like the busy baker
And the good things that he makes!

Bakery rebus printable.

Dealing With Dictionaries

       Interest in dictionaries has been observed very early. A child in a kindergarten received a letter from her grandfather saying that he had seen a chickaree in the tree outside his window. "What is a chickaree?" asked the five year old. "My mother and daddy don't know." The teacher, too, admitted she did not know, but she knew how they could find out. They would go to the library and look up "chick- aree" in the dictionary the big, unabridged dictionary. The class went to the library. All saw the enormous book. And they watched the teacher turn to the letter C and look up "chickaree." To their delight, the teacher read the definition of chickaree and its more common substitute, "red squirrel." Following this experience, the children on several other occasions called the teacher's attention to the necessity of looking up a word. 

       Once introduced to the dictionary in a way which reveals its fascination, children are eager to own one and to use it. Many eight year olds want their own dictionary. And it is to their credit that they quickly learn the inadequacies of the pocket-size dictionaries and demand larger, less-abridged editions. A good dictionary is essential for every home where reading is a live experience. In schools an unabridged edition should be made easily accessible, perhaps in the library, to every group. Older groups may need one within their grade rooms. Developing proper understanding and use of this vital reading aid should be made pleasurable and personally profitable to each child. Cut-and-dried dictionary exercises of the type once passively endured by some of us should be avoided. These dull exercises which were so earnestly given repelled us from dictionary use rather than lured us to it. We were fortunate if later experiences changed our attitude toward looking up words. 

       With their spirited imaginations, children have devised many good games involving the dictionary. Teachers would perform a real service if they would make a collection of these games and share them with each other. Take this one, for example. A child opens the dictionary to any page at random. He says, "I have the dictionary open on an M page." Each child in the group then guesses a word beginning with the letter M. The child guessing the word alphabetically nearest the first word on the page is the winner. The winner opens the dictionary to another page, and the game continues. Another game which children enjoy is to ask a child to mention a word, and then have the other children race to see who will be first to locate it in his own dictionary. These games are appropriate for the younger readers who love to guess and find out. Older children can devise games appropriate to their ability which require looking up the meaning or pronunciation of words. Not only do such games offer recreation, they also develop a fine learning atmosphere, which is the basis for good reading.

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Making Old Friends of New Words

       Some older children's inability to pronounce words or recognize new words can be traced to insufficient knowledge of phonics. Such lacks may be observed even in boys and girls of high school age. Instead of viewing this with alarm, adults should give them help then and there in acquiring an understanding of phonics. In a biology class a boy admitted he didn't know "how to tackle" long words-"A long word is sure to stop me." The teacher, not surprised, said, "Some of our long words are too much to swallow whole-we have to take them in several bites." The teacher then took a moment to write some long words on the board and demonstrate "how to tackle" them. Words like "inimicable," "irreducible," "compatible," "degeneration," and "solidification" were taken syllable by syllable, and a fundamental lesson in word recognition was taught in about twenty minutes. One might argue that such help should not take the regular class time of all students. Often the regular class time is the only time available for those who need help. Those who are sure they do not need this aid can use this time for other rewarding work. 

       The discussion of new words by adults and children as a frequent family experience is an excellent way to add to one's vocabulary. Language is a live and fascinating topic, but common experiences are necessary for good family discussions. Opinions of children must be welcomed. We adults ought not always to be thrusting our knowledge upon our less experienced family members. For example, a slightly retarded young speller was protesting to his family the absurdities of the English language which caused him much distress in spelling "rough,” "sew," "hour," and "certain." This stimulated the whole family to discuss the many words with unphonetic spelling, and brought new realization of the problems facing young learners. It also gave the adults an opportunity to admit that they, too, meet hurdles in spelling tricky words. 

       There is another point which should be made here. The mother who called, "Son, look up 'ubiquitous' for me," was making use of an excellent cooperative family reading practice. Likewise, the boy might, in a similar situation, say, "Mother, what does 'gargoyle' mean? Will you look up 'gargoyle' for me?" We should reveal to children our lacks and new-found needs, to show them that we, too, are continually learning new words. 

       As reading ability increases and a child learns to read more widely and independently, many words, new in meaning as well as sound, are met. If interested, a child will inquire into the meaning and pronunciation of such words, and if guided wisely will acquire in the process a skillful use of the dictionary.  

Dad makes words up and kids try to get them included in dictionary...

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Reading Hurdles For Post-Beginners

        Now, how about older children's reading growth? We once thought we needed merely to give the child a beginning in reading, put him in the fourth grade on his own. Each of us can recognize new tricks in reading which we acquire as we apply reading to our interests. For example, most of us can pronounce foreign names. We use phonic analysis, syllabification, and other techniques just as beginning readers do when they meet such words as "summer" and "beginning." We have learned how to interpret graphs and pictorial materials, and how to scan articles, lifting out the points of crucial interest. We meet new hurdles, and learn how to deal with them. This is true for children too. Only, they may need an adult's help to "catch on" to the skills involved in new hurdles.

• Teaching Readers to Process Texts...
• Reading Strategies Made Easty by NestLingua

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Wanting Facts

      At seven, children begin to have interests in common with adults. They hunt for all the information they can find about some challenging point. A second grade group, interested in making up plays, wanted to invent one about a war between  frogs and toads. The frogs were to be the good forces, the toads the bad ones. The teacher did not have to point out the desirability of finding out about frogs and toads in order to make an interesting play, because this was at once suggested by a youngster. He proposed that they look up frogs and toads in books in the library-dictionary and encyclopedias included and then plan their play. The teacher proposed they get added help at home by having their parents help them in exploring books and reference volumes in the family library. Such desire for reference reading may not always develop in children at the age of seven. It may appear even earlier if a good reading atmosphere has been continuous in the child's life at home and at school. 

       Because of such functional guidance of children, many eight and nine year olds go to a library, use a card index, and help themselves as competently as do far older children. They also find references in encyclopedias and topics in books, with little or no assistance. Such children may not be brilliant; rather, they are children whose reading growth has not been stunted by too few books and materials, a too-narrow concept of reading in their life, or a disregard for their interests. A very appropriate question for teachers and parents to ask at this point is, "But what of the child who at four, five, six, and seven does not show these driving interests or any signs of propelling himself?" Maturity and the ability to attain certain achievements do not follow in perfect chronological age lines. Some children seem less mature than others of their age. Some children begin slowly and gain momentum; others start more rapidly in the preschool years, and then take on a more normal pace. Each child needs to be understood in terms of his own style. Advice given earlier may be repeated here, namely, a child should be encouraged to grow comfortably and happily at his speed. Attempts to force him only hamper growth. A satisfied, secure, constructive child should be our goal. This is a part of the inalienable bill of rights for children. Obviously, neglect of readiness to learn or slighting of more mature children is not desirable. But turning the heat on children, so to speak, robbing them of the fun of learning, is not only non-educational, but brutal and sadistic.

• Developmentally appropriate practice in learning...

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