Oh Hey There, Soapbox.

I was at a workshop today that turned out to actually be worth my time, a rare gem lately. The presenter was talking about the "diversity" of kids in the classroom today. Aside from race, and language, and ethnicity, more babies are being prematurely now than ever before. More babies are born with drugs in their veins than ever before. And more children are being diagnosed with ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety disorders than ever before. Today's children come to school over-tired, poorly nourished (if at all), and from "print-free" homes. Some homes have more televisions than books - which would be absolutely shocking to me if I weren't reminded of this daily by children's reactions to being allowed to take my books home with them. I'll never forget at open house when a child in my class this year proudly showed his father his desk, including his school library book, to which his father responded, "This ain't a real book. It ain't got no pictures." Motivating, isn't it?

I thought of my own little munchkin at home, and how much he absolutely loves reading. And it's not just one book he's into... it's dozens. I should know, they are currently scattered all over the living room floor. He loves his "Daddy book" - a lift the flap book that's love is shown by it's haphazard flaps hanging precariously on each page. He loves Puff the Magic Dragon so much, he bawled when he accidentally ripped a page, crying "Oh noooo. Oh NO!" He loves books with textures and books with bright pictures. We go to the library almost every week - in fact, Houston's first real conversational sentence was in reference to me asking if he wanted to go to the library: "YESH! More books. Please?"On top of gazing at his favorite pictures, Houston has even started recognizing letters in print, excitedly scanning those little black letters in his favorite stories for "O"s. At one and a half years old, my son has had more exposure to literature than some students in my class who are 8 years old. It's no wonder our schools are failing.

As much as we say, "kids these days," kids these days really are different. And as much as I may feel like a "dunce" at home, there are certain times in life when I have to stop belittling myself and instead give myself a hearty slap on the back. Our kids are our responsibility. Not their teachers'. I can only hope that Houston's love for books always outweighs his love for "Sprout TV."