Mrs.
Fran Hotchkiss, the Children’s Librarian at the Brandon Township Public Library
in Ortonville, Michigan, volunteered at the library in her teens. It is now 49 years later and she has not only
been honored as the 2001 Michigan Children’s Librarian of the year, but she also
conducts 24 on-site programs per week and 12 off-site school programs per
month.
She has insight into why children
experience difficulty in reading. She
cites an economic reality in that parents might not be able to afford to take
advantage of library resources or provide resources for home reading. She also mentioned that sometimes a lack in
literacy is generational. For example,
older members of the family don’t model reading and therefore there is a lack
of encouragement to read. Finally, Mrs.
Hotchkiss believes time constraints with parents cause them not to read to
their children often or early enough.
Mrs. Hotchkiss takes more of a
traditionalist approach to literacy. She
believes early exposure to language is beneficial. She instituted Lapsit programs from birth to
three years of age which serves as a model for parents to read to their
children at home. She also created a
Pre-school Story Hour for children three and a half to five years old. In these programs, she stresses phonics and
repetition, incorporates simple technology such as a CD player, short movies on
DVD, and band instruments.
When asked to make comments on the
topic of cultural literacy, Mrs. Hotchkiss compared her childhood experience to
her programming. As a child who
encountered an unfamiliar term, she was always told to “look it up.” In her programs, she either stops to explain
a word or she provides a visual to illustrate.
For example, if she were reading Madeleine,
she would bring in a children’s illustrated book about Paris.
Mrs. Hotchkiss has provided several programs to encourage cultural
literacy. In addition to her pairing
stories with non-fiction books which serve to enrich the children’s literacy
background, she has held the following programs: Little House on the Prairie, Multi-Cultural
Cooking, Crafts Around the World, and Snacks Around the World. Each program included a storybook and sharing
time for the children.
Finally,
Mrs. Hotchkiss explained that she especially enjoyed sharing authors in her
programs who specialize in culture-based stories. One of those authors is Patricia Polacco who
is of Russian, Ukrainian and Irish heritage.
Rechenka’s Eggs by Polacco is
a story about a Babushka and her painted eggs, a Ukrainian religious
tradition. Children can learn geography,
architecture, and the art of decorating Easter eggs. Another of Mrs. Hotchkiss’s favorite authors
is Tomie DePaola, whose story book Strega
Nona is a 1976 Caldecott Honor Book.
Since it is set in a small village in Italy, children hear another tale
set in a foreign country.
No comments:
Post a Comment