The Invisible Toolbox: The Power of Reading to Your Child from Birth to Adolescence

by Kim Jocelyn Dickson

Overview

How one activity can lead to lifelong benefits for your child: “Parents, teachers, and all who love children will be inspired.” —Amy Dickinson, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things

Longtime elementary school teacher Kim Jocelyn Dickson believes every child begins kindergarten with a lunchbox in one hand and an “invisible toolbox” in the other. In this book, she shares with parents the single most important thing they can do to foster their child’s future learning potential and nurture the parent-child bond that is the foundation for a child’s motivation to learn. Drawing on both neuroscientific research and her own experience as an educator, she concludes that the simple act of reading aloud has a far-reaching impact that few of us fully understand—and our recent, nearly universal saturation in technology has further clouded its importance.In The Invisible Toolbox, parents, educators, and early literacy advocates will discover:

• Ten priceless tools that fill their child’s toolbox when they read aloud to their child
• Tools parents can give themselves to foster these gifts in their children
• Practical tips for how and what to read aloud to children through their developmental stages
• Dos and don’ts and recommended resources that round out all the practical tools a parent will need to prepare their child for kindergarten and beyond
• How parents can build their own toolboxes so they can help their children build theirs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642502046
Publisher:	Mango Media
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	107
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Kim Jocelyn Dickson is a parent, author, and educator with thirty years of classroom experience. She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Master's degree in education and a focus on developmental psychology and spirituality. She has taught in public and private schools in the East, Midwest, and West Coast of the United States. Currently, Kim lives in Southern California where she teaches, writes, and presents on the importance of early literacy. Learn more at: www.kimjocelyndickson.com and the invisibletoolbox.org.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The mark of a great teacher is not just enabling a child to do well in class, but also in giving that child the instruments she needs to succeed and love the subject forever. I wish everyone could have Ms. Dickson as their child’s teacher as I did, but The Invisible Toolbox is the next best thing!”

–Richard Chang, MD

" The Invisible Toolbox shares a simple truth that rises above the hectic commotion and flood of information parents are subjected to: ‘Reading aloud to your child from birth is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give.’ This book will tell you why this is so and what you can do to develop a lifelong love of books and reading with your child.”

—Jeff Conyers, president of The Dollywood Foundation and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

“As a pediatrician who sees firsthand the struggles and tears of the children who have empty Invisible Toolboxes, I am thrilled that Ms. Dickson has written this book to show families how to avoid all that heartache. I wholeheartedly recommend that all parents read this book!”

–Kathryn Lin, MD

“Kim Jocelyn Dickson has given us a gift. In lively and loving language, she opens The Invisible Toolbox and shows us what's inside: Opportunities for connection, inspiration, imagination, conversation, and joyful play. Literacy encompasses so much more than the important ability to read. Parents, teachers, and all who love children will be inspired by the author's passionate advocacy, and helpful, compassionate instruction.”

—Amy Dickinson, Ask Amy advice columnist and panelist on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" radio show