Diane W. Frankenstein

Post date: Nov 16, 2009 9:52:37 PM

A parent at our school has recommended a possible speaker on reading who is available to come to Singapore March 4 - 6, 2010 -- Diane W. Frankenstein.

Read the information below.

Note that Diane will be in Hong Kong from February 24 through March 3, 2010 -- then she is free from March 4 - 6, after which she will be heading to Beijing and then Tokyo.

Extract from an email from Yolanda Yeh (yyeh@pacific.net.hk):

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I've invited Diane Frankenstein to come to Hong Kong for over 11 years to speak to our parents, teachers, schools, and educational organzations including the government organized teacher talks. She finally has put together the essence of her teachings into a book called "Reading Together - Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read". I wish I had known her earlier so that I could have done more with my two older daughters while we were reading together! But, it's ok - my eldest daughter, Trisha and I still share books we enjoy reading.

Here's a summary of "Reading Together" by Parent Magazine in the US:

Reading for pleasure may becoming a lost art, but Diane Frankenstein aims to change that with her book, "Reading Together: Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child that Loves to Read" (Perigee, $15.)

Frankenstein starts her book with a simple thought in how to encourage reading: "Help children find an appropriate book" and "talk with them about the story" which brings "children who connect with stories and love the stories they read." She begins by showing parents how to help children love what they read by finding the right book at the right time (and for parents not to stress so much about whether the book is challenging or not), helping them to find the hook and that if it doesn't it is acceptable to find a different book, don't interrupt the story with explanations or turn the book into a vocabulary lesson, and much more, but especially to keep the fun in reading the story.

She then shows parents the how to conversationally read to their children by making comments and asking questions to help the children see the plotline, find the content in the story, and to see beyond the plotline and to make personal connections to a story.

The rest of the book is made up of 101 Story Pages of books ranging from Pre-K to the sixth grade reading level. Each page has questions to ask children about the specific book and questions that make the story personal. There are also sections that are conversation starters for any story. Each page has a "souvenir" a final idea to remember from the story and recommendations of what book to read next. Each book is given a synopsis, so parents can find a book their child would be intersted in as well as a list of subjects. The book also has an index page of the books included broken down by picture books, grades 2-5 and grades 4-6. The book pages also display the cover for recognizability and has a "read together" age range as well as a "read alone" one.

For an adult who wants to get their kids reading more and wants to be able to test their comprehension skill, be sure to check out this very informative and helpful book.

I've attached the Penguin press release, sample pages of the inside of the book, and a few praises (you can see more on her website www.dianefrankenstein.com .

It'd be great to have an opportunity to come to Singapore to let parents know about this wonderful resource - Diane herself and her book. Let me know what you think and how we can make this happen. In Hong Kong, she speaks at PTA evenings, school teacher training, and is a guest speaker at organizations like YPO, YEO, HK Education Dept talks. She will be in Hong Kong from Feb 24 - Mar 3rd. After that, she is open from March 4-6 before we head to Beijing then Tokyo.

Cost wise - the few countries inviting her to visit will share in the airfare. The host country will take care of hotel, food, transporation and her fee. Fee is US$750 for a 2 hour session.

Penquin will provide me the name of the bookstore in Singapore that they work with and you can have the bookstore take care of importing and selling the books.

Let me know If I can provide you with any other information.

Best regards,

Yolanda

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If you are interested, please contact Diane W. Frankenstein via her webpage.