Reading, writing, and storytelling can be a creative first aid kit for families stuck at home during the pandemic. But where do you begin if your kid says they don't *want* to read or write? Today we've got some strategies for making reading and writing exciting, including some games dreamed up by the one and only Julie Andrews.
Reading, writing, and storytelling can be a creative first aid kit for families stuck at home during the pandemic. But where do you begin if your kid says they don't want to read or write? Today we've got some strategies for making reading and writing exciting.
First, we'll hear some games dreamed up by the one and only Julie Andrews. She and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, have started a new project to spark kids' imaginations: It's a podcast we adore called Julie's Library.
Then, Sierra Filucci from Common Sense Media joins us to discuss how to get your kid busy reading this summer, even if they're reluctant. Is any reading better than no reading?
Plus, a parenting win: We'll hear the story of how a college soccer star turned a kid who hates writing ... into a kid who likes it.
After the show:
And we want to hear your tips and suggestions! Send your questions and tips—especially the strange ones—to parenttrapped@commonsense.org, and we might invite you on the show.
Parent Trapped was brought to you by founding sponsor First Republic Bank. To learn more about their services, visit http://firstrepublic.com.
AMB: Hey everyone, It's Ann Marie, host of the show. Before we turn to today's episode, which we prepared for you last week, we want to acknowledge what's happened in this country over the last few days—the murder of George Floyd, as well as the protests and unrest that followed. Common Sense Media and the Parent Trapped team are deeply saddened and angered by these events. We hope you're safe and healthy, and we'll be doing a show on talking to kids about racism and the news next week. This is sobering stuff, and it's difficult to talk about at all, and especially with kids. We want to hear what's on your mind. Send your thoughts and questions to us at parenttrapped[at]commonsense[dot]org. Thanks.
[1:07] AMB: How do you introduce a guest like Julie Andrews? I mean, she helped a family escape the Nazis!
[music from Sound of Music: The hills are alive, with the sound of music...]
AMB: She's the original super nanny, ready to sweep in and take care of the kids and get them to stuff they don't want to do!
[music from Mary Poppins: A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down...]
AMB: Julie Andrews is like the ultimate child-saver. Mary Poppins, Maria from the Sound of Music. Yes, these are just roles. But it turns out, the real Julie Andrews helps to pull kids out of dark situations, too.
AMB: From Common Sense media, I'm Ann Marie Baldonado and this is Parent Trapped. Today, Julie Andrews gives us the spoonful of sugar we need, to help swallow what we're all going through right now. She and her daughter have a new project designed to spark kids' imaginations during the pandemic. Plus, tips on how to get your kids excited about reading this summer, ‘cause what else are they going to do? And a story about how a college soccer star turned a kid who hates writing into a kid who likes it.
[family screaming]
[2:43] AMB: In the Sound of Music, the Von Trapps were escaping Austria, just before World War II. But in real life, Julie Andrews was a child during the war, living in England. She used to sit on the roof of an air raid shelter and blow a whistle to warn all of her neighbors every time a German missile flew overhead. Then, after the war was over, when she was 10, she started touring the country, performing vaudeville to help support her family.
JA: In fact, I had a tutor that traveled with me everywhere because I was already entertaining a great deal in the theater. So I had to have my schooling, of course. And she was with me everywhere.
AMB: The school work was fine for Julie, but what she really wanted to do was read stories, and write them – stories of her own.
[3:30] JA: And she would not let me write my stories until I had completed the math and the history and the geography. But then she would let me just fly with the creative writing. So I've always loved it. And yes, reading books, I would just delve into anything I could get my hands on, that sparked my interest and took me somewhere, was what I was looking for always.
AMB: Julie says that books helped her escape the realities of post-war Europe. And when she became a parent, she passed that love of books, and the idea that reading can help you get through dark times, on to her children.
EMMA: We're looking for meaning right now more than ever, and I think people are turning to story and, you know, whether it's story told in theatrical form, or in narrative form, or in news form. And I think now more than ever we need that.
AMB: Emma Walton Hamilton is Julie's oldest daughter. They worked on Julie's memoirs together, as well as 30 books for children and young adults. And now the mother-daughter duo have a podcast for kids. It's a project they'd been planning for awhile, but when the pandemic hit, they figured – now's the time.
[4:45] JA: It was thought that it would be helpful to bring the air date a little forward so that it would help children that are stuck at home with families, and give them something to do and to think about, and give them some joy, hopefully.
EMMA: And we thought, well, this would be a lovely extension of the kind of work we're already doing, celebrating literacy in the arts for young people. And wouldn't it be lovely if we could create a podcast that would invite families to listen together and to engage in dialog about the books that we read.
AMB: In each episode of Julie's Library, Julie and Emma read a book or two. The way they read them, its like they're there with you. And you almost don't miss the illustrations.
JA: Once upon a time, in a little blue house on a hill, on the edge of town, a baby was born. They were born when both the moon and the sun were in the sky, so the baby couldn't decide what to be – boy, or girl, bird, or fish, cat or rabbit, tree or star, so the baby looked a little like everything. They looked very strange.
AMB: In this episode, Julie reads a book called –
JA: From The Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea, by Cie Jeng Tom.
[6:09] AMB: When my too-old-for-picture books kids and I listened to this one, we teared up a little. And actually, it was kind of nice, because for a few moments we were totally immersed in the world created by a book, not worried about getting finished with breakfast in time, for the first virtual meeting of the school day.
AMB: And that's the whole point of what Julie and Emma do. They believe that books and storytelling help kids tap into their own imaginations, and help them to create stories of their own.
AMB: Now, you're both writers, you write together. I think that parents now, particularly being with kids at home, are looking for ways to encourage their kids to write, both kinds in academic settings, but also as a creative outlet. Do you have any recommendations for caregivers who want to encourage writing in their children?
[7:04] EMMA: Oh, gosh. Generally speaking, just no censorship is the best possible gift you can give to a child or a young writer – is just to have them write from where they are, what they know, what makes them happy, what makes them scared, what makes them angry. Ask questions. And then, you know, allow them to write freely, without judging too harshly the results, or the grammar or the spelling or the punctuation. And I think if you can do that, if you can support and affirm a young writer for writing from their own authentic voice, you can build a love of writing. Then, you know, all those structural details can be incorporated later.
AMB: Yeah, sometimes the younger kids can get frustrated because they have an idea of what they want to try to get out there. And they don't necessarily have the tools yet.
EMMA: That's right. And, you know, and of course, they spend a lot of time in school learning, you know, how to structure an essay or, you know, all those rules. And I think that the real joy of writing comes in just letting your imagination lead you wherever it would like to go, and allowing yourself the freedom to follow it.
[8:12] AMB: I really want to also make sure that people know about your Netflix series, Julie's Green Room, which you worked on and was released a few years ago, but is just this lovely show.
JA and EMMA: Thank you.
AMB: My kids — I have a twelve year old and an eight year old — they loved it back then. They love it – we're revisiting it now. It's a wonderful show. And it's you know, it's meant for preschoolers and it's certainly great for preschoolers, but it's really great for anyone. Adults, too. If you love theater and musicals and performing, you know, that's a plus, but it's just great for everybody. Can you describe the show?
JA: Sure. It was done for Netflix about four years ago. And it's really about my owning, or supposedly owning a small theater, and teaching theater classes and so on. Excepting that my pupils are the wonderful Jim Henson puppets. And really, taking every aspect of theater and creating our own musical, as you know, if you've seen the series. But each week, dealing with a different aspect of theater and what it means and why it's important. Everything from building the sets to writing the script to creating the music, to sewing the costumes, and so on and so forth.
There are lessons about things like singing, improv and acting, all done in a silly, not teach-y kind of way. And, in each episode, they're taught by a special guest — people like Idina Menzel, Ellie Kemper and Alec Baldwin.
ALEC BALDWIN: So it's time to start our acting class. First, there's listening – super important.
PUPPETS: Huh? What is it?
AB: That's the spirit. Pay attention to how the other actors talk to you. This will help you to know your character.
[10:01] AMB: Julie sees acting and performing as yet another tool for exercising imagination. And because people are home, she is releasing new videos on her Facebook page. Julie and Emma have all kinds of games and activities to bring out the theater kid in anyone.
EMMA: One of our favorites is a game we recommended called – it's called The Never Ending Story. And you basically – one person starts a story by starting a sentence: Once upon a time there was a ___. And then the next person continues the sentence, you know, fish. And he lived in a _____. And then the next person says...
JA: Bathtub!
EMMA: Or whatever it might be. Yeah. Eventually you go back and forth, or round and round depending on how many people are playing. You know, you have a wonderful story that's gone off in all sorts of different directions you didn't expect.
JA: Also, there was a family tradition in our house of something that we called The Three Minute Game. And it does keep children very occupied and brings out the most amazing things. For instance, you give each child a pencil and paper and you say, in this hat, there are subjects or the beginnings of sentences. And you may write for three minutes – only three minutes – the first thing that comes into your mind when you open that piece of paper and see the subject. And it could be literally anything to the person on my left or right, or a color, or how I feel about going back to school or whatever. And if you'll get two games where children say, oh, I don't know how to do this, or I can't do that. And then by the third, they're hooked, because what you do at the end of the game, every time everybody's subjects are collected, you read them aloud. So everybody gets to share, and soon you get children saying – oh, wait, wait, I haven't finished my sentence. Give me two more seconds to finish writing what I was writing. And it's very interesting to see how they respond. It's a great game. And it keeps kids very quiet, doesn't it, Em?
EMMA: It does.
[music]
[12:05] AMB: So if you need a creative outlet, or just a little quiet-- check out Julie's new videos on Facebook. Julie and Emma's new podcast is called Julie's Library. And you can find Julie's Green Room on Netflix.
AMB: Coming up, some advice for how to use all this time at home to get your kids to be better readers. And a tip that might actually make your kids want to write a letter. Stay with us.
[13:14] AMB: And we're back. This summer, when school's over and camps are mostly non-existent, I would love my kids to spend days sitting in a chair, reading for hours. But how realistic is that, and how much should I force it? Is reading really that important?
SF: It offers a lot of benefits to them in the long run, from issues of language comprehension, vocabulary skills, cognitive skills.
AMB: Sierra Filucci is the Editorial Director at Common Sense Media and oversees parenting advice.
SF: And then there's also research that shows that being read to can have a significant positive effect on behavior. So less aggression, less hyperactivity, more ability to focus in the school years.
[14:07] AMB: What are some ways to encourage reading, particularly for children that don't like to read?
SF: Yeah. I think for reluctant readers in particular, it can be helpful to make sure that there are options available to them that maybe don't feel that intimidating, or that really fit into their interests, whatever that might be. So one thing I love for reluctant readers is graphic novels. Those are great ways for kids who feel a little intimidated by a lot of words on the page and might just enjoy looking at the pictures and then kind of, you know, reading when they feel like they want to, but still be able to really follow a narrative and understand the story. And for parents, if they want to read along with their kids, that could be really helpful, and they can sort of describe the illustrations and ask questions about the illustrations and make it a really fun and positive experience for the kids, so that they then connect the idea of reading with something really pleasant.
AMB: Well, there are some teachers that don't like their students to just read graphic novels. But you're okay with it.
[15:30] SF: Really, I think the goal for most parents and I would think for most teachers is to encourage a love of learning in kids and a love of reading. And I think that's really what's most important. I think, you know, if your kid is spending their whole entire life just reading graphic novels, and a teacher feels like maybe they haven't acquired the reading level skills that they need, I think that's a whole different issue. But as long as there's sort of a balance between what kids are reading, knowing that they're reading things that are exposing them to, you know, important skills that they need to learn.
AMB: Is your thinking that any reading is good reading? Like, it's okay if your kid is reading books about Minecraft — well Minecraft seems fine — but not fancy books. It's like any reading is better than not reading?
SF: I think for the most part any reading is good reading. I think some kids could use a little bit of prompting to maybe get a little more sophisticated in their reading. But I wouldn't do anything that takes away the joy that they're experiencing. So, you know, if your kid is piled, you know, knee deep in Minecraft books and is just tearing through them and loving them and enjoying them, I think naturally they will move on to more sophisticated content eventually. So I wouldn't worry about that at all.
[16:58] AMB: One thing you recommend is that parents help their kids start book clubs, particularly going into the summer, and it's a nice idea. How would you encourage kids to do that?
SF: Yeah, I love the idea of book clubs. And this could be a really cool time, and actually a time when you can connect with people who aren't necessarily close to you. I think you really need to have parents who are committed and involved and willing to do some work for this. You know, most elementary age kids aren't necessarily going to be able to sustain the work that goes into really running a successful book club. But, with parent involvement, what you can do is, you know, make sure you've got a decent number of kids – maybe, you know, three, four or five, seven kids, probably not much more than that. And then have a meeting on Zoom or maybe the parents can coordinate over email and choose a book and then have a set time. And maybe depending on the ages of the kids, either have the parents guide the discussion and ask some of the questions, or if the kids are a little bit older, a little more sophisticated, they can have some questions prepared ahead of time.
AMB: Sierra says if parents can't get involved, a couple of friends who are really into the same book can form a little, unstructured club of their own. That works too.
[18:24] SF: So I would say, you know, have low expectations, but it can actually be something that can really encourage kids to read because they have some accountability to their friends. And that can also just be a fun way of connecting in a time when we really need that.
AMB: I know the best way to foster reading in the home is by modeling that behavior. You know, having adults in the house read as well. But I'm gonna be honest like, I'm reading right now. But a lot of it is articles, it's news. And I'm reading those things on my phone and my computer. And I worry that it just looks like I'm on a screen and not reading, like it registers as screen time instead of reading time. Is there a way to fix this or, you know, or should I not worry about it too much?
SF: Well, I think there's a couple different things you can do. So first of all, I'm a big fan of narrating what you're doing when you're staring at a screen if your kids are around. So you know, and this can work for anything from – I'm texting with grandpa to ask him about his day, so that they know you're not just playing Candy Crush. Or you can also, you know, as you're staring there at your phone, you can say, oh, I'm reading this really interesting article. It's about, you know, blah, blah, blah, and sort of let them know that when they see you staring at your phone, that you may be doing something productive and just get them kind of used to the idea that that happens. And for kids who have phones, I would say ask those questions of them, too, you know – oh, what are you doing? You know, sometimes they're on Snapchat. Sometimes they are also reading an article. But on top of that, also try to actually read something like a book or a magazine in their eyesight. So that they can feel like, you know, books are always accessible and they are a part of your family's life.
[20:23] AMB: Sierra Filucci is editorial director at Common Sense Media. In an ideal world, all kids could have access to physical books and ebooks, especially now when they can't get them at school or libraries. Common Sense Media compiled some resources, ways to get free books while at home right now. You can find a link to that list in our show notes.
AMB: Today we end the show with a cool tip for how to get your kids to do some writing during quarantine.
AG: My name is Alethea Gerding. I'm a mom in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
AMB: Alethea has a son named Jackson.
JG: I'm nine.
AG: He struggles with reading and writing. And it's also a struggle for us to make him do it. It's just a really headbutting exercise to have him answer questions that the teachers give fill out worksheets.
[21:16] AMB: One thing Jackson does love is soccer, and when quarantine started, he was really missing soccer practice, and watching his favorite team.
AG: Well, he has an obsession with UNC women's soccer. And one player in particular –
[audio from sports media] Tori Hansen has a graceful explosiveness –
AMB: He's a huge fan of freshman Tori Hansen. So Alethea had an idea. Maybe there was a way to use Tori to get Jackson to write.
JG: And this is the letter.
AMB: Alethea was like, hey Jackson, wanna write Tori a letter?
JG: Dear Tori, I have been missing you a lot. I've been waiting for your games, but I am so sorry they got canceled. While we're talking about soccer, my first game was supposed to be today. I also hope you can post soccer drills on Instagram. I hope you're not sick. I hope you're fine in quarantine. I hope to see you soon. I have been missing you and the team. I have been playing ping pong with my family. Your friend Jackson.
Then Alethea DMed a picture of the letter to Tori on Instagram.
AG: And one of the things he had asked was if she could put soccer drills on Instagram. And she did.
JG: I was like “Yay!”
[22:33] AG: And so we ended up doing that for a little bit of P.E. I mean, in his mind, you know, this is this amazing celebrity that he's friends with, even though she's a freshman soccer player on the UNC women's soccer team.
AMB: Alethea says if you're gonna try this pen pal trick to get your kid to write, pick the right level of celebrity.
AG: I mean, if he had written the letter to LeBron James, I don't think he would've gotten a response. So for those of us in college towns or even small towns with little kids who are obsessed with minor leaguers or something, I think there must be a sweet spot somewhere for people that kids think are celebrities, but again, aren't such giant celebrities that they don't have time to respond to the kids.
AG (to Jackson): Do you like to write things anymore?
JG: Sometimes.
AG: But sometimes not?
JG: Yeah.
[23:24] AMB: I guess sometimes is better than no times. Do you have a parenting tip or hack that you want to share? Or do you want to scream with your family and send us the recording? Write to us at parenttrapped[at]commonsense[dot]org. The screams in this episode came from Sam Chan and her daughter, Jojo.
[family screaming]
AMB: This episode was produced by me, Ann Marie Baldonado, with Dennis Funk. Our editor is Hillary Frank. We got production help from Natalie Price. Our engineer is Pete Karam, and our theme song was composed by Casey Holford. We get editorial support from Andrea Silenzi, Fred Graver, Kyra Reppen, Jill Murphy and Ellen Pack.
AMB: Common Sense Media is a national nonprofit that rates media based on children's developmental guidelines. To learn more, visit commonsensemedia[dot]org where you'll find age-based ratings and reviews that are written by experts and trusted by families everywhere.
AMB: Thanks to our show's founding sponsor, First Republic Bank, committed to providing you uninterrupted service. To learn more, visit FirstRepublic[dot]com today. And be sure you're subscribed to Parent Trapped on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening right now.
[music ends]