New Book Shows Parents How to Help Children Become Better and Stronger Readers
"Priscilla L. Vail…has truly remarkable insights into how children learn and no one is more skilled in describing the practical approaches to nurture academic skill development in children."
-Mel Levine, M.D., best-selling author of A Mind at a Time
Seize the Meaning! Help Your Child Move From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn
By Priscilla L. Vail
(New York, NY--September 2002)-Kaplan Publishing is releasing a new book by National Parenting Publications Parenting Resources Honor Award and Parent's Choice Award-winning author Priscilla L. Vail, M.A.T., in time for back-to-school 2002. Her new book, Seize the Meaning! Help Your Child Move From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn (Kaplan Publishing, October 2002; $10.00) is written in the same practical, friendly and engaging manner as her other acclaimed books.
Parents are often surprised when their "good reader" performs poorly on reading tests or struggles to answer questions about books they have finished. While many children can read words off the page, many lack inference skills and the skills for reading big new words. They often misunderstand figures of speech and are missing techniques to make the new information they read memorable-the cornerstones of reading comprehension. With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, students in grades 3-8 will be tested annually in reading so it is imperative that these skills be firmly in place.
"For reading to be worth the time and effort involved, it must convey meaning, emotion, suspense or similar delights," says Vail. "But an increasing number of children 'bark at print' or rake their eyes across lines of words, absorbing little or nothing. In this era of quick visual stimulation, we must continue to emphasize comprehension. Glimpsing is not the same as grasping," she says.
Parents often feel frustrated and powerless to help their child master these essential skills. Seize the Meaning! is divided into seven chapters, each of which covers a key element of comprehension. In each chapter, Priscilla identifies important goals for students, plus tools parents can use to help their child reach those goals. She also identifies "landmines" that can prevent progress and summarizes principles of good practice that make teaching and learning more effective. Here is a sample tool from the book:
How to Meet Your Book
Show your child how to make the acquaintance of the book or material he is about to read. Here are six steps you can pass along to your child:
Step One. Read the title of the book, as well as the titles of the chapters, if any. This will help your child develop a perspective on the book
Step Two. Peruse the table of contents. Note whether it is laid out in chapters or segments and sections. How many? How long are they? Will each one be readily digestible, or is each one like a small book in itself?
Step Three. Flip through the pages. Are they dense with prose, or airy with dialogue? Are there bullets, lists, outlines and graphs-or just words?
Step Four. Open the book at random. Read a paragraph. Do the words flow easily for your child?
Step Five. Read about the author either in the book jacket or inside the cover. What else has the writer written? Does the writer's way seem a likely match for the reader's interest or need?
Step Six. If book and reader seem compatible, give it a try. If author and reader don't get along, try a different book. Readers need not finish every book they start.
Adapted from Seize the Meaning!, Chapter 6
By understanding the foundations of reading comprehension and by using the games and activities in Seize the Meaning! parents will be better equipped to help their child move from learning to read to reading to learn.
Seize the Meaning! is available wherever books are sold.
About the author: Priscilla L. Vail, M.A.T. was a full time teacher for over twenty-three years. Learning, learning issues and styles, emotional influences, language development, reading and writing, and the connection between minds and brains, are some of Priscilla's passions and areas of expertise. She won a Parent's Choice Award for non-fiction and a National Parenting Publications Award for the Homework Heroes series (with Drew and Cynthia Johnson, also from Kaplan Publishing). She is a member of the International Dyslexia Association, The President's Council, The American Association for Gifted Children, and the National Association of Independent Schools. She is an active consult to 80-100 schools a year and her educational articles appear frequently in professional journals.
BOOK INFORMATION
Seize the Meaning! Help Your Child Move From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn
By Priscilla L. Vail, M.A.T.
Kaplan Publishing (Kaplan, Inc. and Simon & Schuster), October 2002
ISBN: 0-7432-3052-3 Price: $10.00
Also available from Priscilla L. Vail for Fall 2002: Liberate Your Child's Learning Patterns.
Note to Editors: Review copies are available upon request. Please contact Lori DeGeorge at lori.degeorge@kaplan.simonandschuster.com or by phone at 212-698-1272.
Author Available for Interview for Education/Parenting Stories
To schedule an interview with Priscilla L. Vail, please contact Lori Duggan Gold at lori_duggangold@kaplan.com or at 212-492-5903.
About Kaplan Publishing: Kaplan Publishing is a joint venture between Kaplan, Inc. and Simon & Schuster. In 2001, Kaplan publishing introduced 65 new titles on test preparation, admissions, education, parent involvement, career development, and life skills. With Congress' passage of the President's "No Child Left Behind" education package, Kaplan Publishing is well positioned to meet the needs of parents and students seeking state-specific test preparation and parent involvement tools. Kaplan, Inc. is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).
Press Contact:
Lori Duggan Gold
lori_duggangold@kaplan.com
212-492-5903 or 212-698-4669
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