Medstead Central School was turned into the site of a literal carnival and literary promotion event April 19.
Hosted by the school community council, the evening coincided with the annual general meeting.
The event attracted 100 and the most excited were the children. Enthused at the prospect of having their parents attend classes while they attended the carnival, the line was nearly out the door almost half an hour before the event. Carnival attendees were charged $2 a head, whereas the parents, slated to attend the seminars, were allowed entrance free of charge.
The school canteen offered up cotton candy, popcorn, hotdogs and juice. Sugar abounded in the blood of the youngsters as they were ushered into the carnival area where games were ready to be played. While this happened, the parents and their associated groups rotated through 15-minute seminars divided by age groups.
Shannon Caffet hosted the group geared towards the youngest of the readers.. The session focused on the importance of incorporating sound, touch and rhythm into the routines of children from as early as birth. Tips such as vocal reinforcement of correct pronunciation as opposed to outright correction, the encouragement of turn taking, wherein a coo of a baby is answered by the parent and so forth were abundant. Ratios of words used in replies in those raising the children was noted, with a three to one insertion rate (a child says one word and the parent adds three). Overall, the theme was to enjoy all forms of literacy, from nursery rhymes to picture books and everything in between.
The middle age group’s session was presented by Stacy Hill. She challenged the audience with an encryption of symbols representing letters to illustrate the neuropathways our youth are engaging when learning to read. The session emphasized repetition, patience and enthusiasm for the written word. Useful tips were given, such as not covering the photographs in picture books and allowing for the child to skip a word and return to it. Most interestingly was hearing children who are read to for 20 minutes a day leading up to their entrance to Grade 1 will have a vocabulary of 1.8 million words, those read to for one minute a day prior to this time will have a vocabulary in the mere thousands.
The seminar pertaining to the oldest age group was run by Kaitlin Inkster and Rae Short and geared towards ensuring comprehension of the written word. Advice on the approaches to make sure children are understanding what they read, whether it is to ask about the story to confirm it was read, or to go through a few words on a page to determine whether the book was at the correct level for the child were given. Parents were encouraged to read at home, engage in book discussion and to find ways to integrate literacy into the technology to which youth are exposed.
After all groups had rotated through the sessions, they were brought together at the library where children listened to the book reading of Heather Gatzke’s new children’s story, Giant’s Mixed Up Menu. Prizes were awarded to parents at each session and to children at the end of the carnival.
Combining the carnival with the council’s AGM resulted in an increase in meeting attendance.
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