Yesterday was my workshop at the Studio Museum in Harlem—it was expertly-organized with lots of employees in red Target t-shirts on hand to make sure everything flowed smoothly. But what impressed me most were the parents who showed up in force, determined to expose their children to books and art. In some ways it seems like a no-brainer: we’re stuck in an endless heat wave; you’ve got little ones who need to be kept cool AND entertained….so why not come out to the local air-conditioned museum? When I was a child, museums were sacred spaces—I remember lots of shadows and shushing. Not exactly a kid-friendly experience. But today’s museums are going out of their way to open up art spaces to children and families—and even singles! DJs, cocktails, face-painting, clowns with balloons…it’s a new day.
The question is, what do we do to bring in those parents who still don’t think the museum’s a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon? This topic came up again and again at the Harlem Book Fair, but in a way, most of us were preaching to the choir. Parents who aren’t book-lovers aren’t likely to attend a panel at the Schomburg, nor are they likely to tune in to Book TV on the weekend. So how do we reach those folks? I think the internet might be one solution…and “each one, teach one”—invite a neighbor or congregant at your church to come with you to a literary event, or ask them to join your book club! Set a play date and have your kids READ! before and after they play video games…I want us to be careful about blaming poor literacy rates on the internet. Technology is a TOOL, and you can use any tool to serve the needs of your family and community…we authors are doing all we can to connect with readers online: we blog, we make book trailers, we tweet (I don’t!), we do school visits using Skype, and we join/host reading challenges. The internet is not the enemy! And rejecting the internet only widens the digital divide. We have to cultivate a culture that prioritizes literacy without excluding other expressive practices.
I was pretty disappointed that “industry insiders” chose not to attend our panel at the HBF. I hope they’ll watch the video on C-Span’s website, but I’m guessing most will simply continue doing what they’ve been doing: paying lip service to diversity, but doing nothing concrete to make change happen. We’ve got another great event coming up in October—save the 8th and 9th for this conference at NYU: A is for Anansi. I’ll be moderating the panel on Saturday morning; stay tuned for the complete list of program participants…
Thanks for the link to the panel discussion! I’m looking forward to watching it and learning more.
Great! thanks for caring about this issue…
I think the person who made the comment that the internet is one of the causes as to why our children are illerate was looking at technology through a one-dimensional lens. Reading your blog just educated me as to the different ways technology can be an asset. I think most people see the internet as websites for social interacting, games, newspapers, etc. We are ignorate to the advertising componets that authors use to reach the masses. WOW!- Skype is a phenomenal tool to reach kids in the classroom.
My biggest challenge when tutoring children in reading and writing is keeping their attention. I hope to come up with some interventive ways to combat this problem. I have teacher friends who have an issue with this also. Maybe its diet, lack of interest, or a child’s fluttering brain picturing the next good time activity, that blocks the lesson at hand.
Maybe you have some ideas. I am a middle-age volunteer without college education credits, so I just go by instinct and love. Well thanks again-Love and Peace
Well, love and instinct are a great place to start! I’m not a certified teacher either, but I work with kids a lot and I know that young ones can have the attention span of a gnat…kids are used to multi-tasking—they watch TV and listen to music and surf the web at the same time. So it can be hard to keep their attention. I try to build variety into my lesson plans—the kids know what to expect b/c we do the same thing each time we’re together: we start with a fun word game, then read together aloud, then brainstorm, then they write quietly, followed by sharing aloud…if your kids are really young, build in time for them to stand up and stretch, or change seats…let them act out a scene in the book using no words…that would be my advice!
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