One Book, One School

When I was a kid, I didn’t LOVE reading that much.  I was an only child and I loved being social and reading was lonely to me.  Now, looking back as an adult, that’s heartbreaking! In the years since I was young, the world has fully embraced the social aspect of reading.  Oprah and Reese have nation-wide book clubs. Libraries hold discussions on books and every town seems to have several book clubs going at once.  

This is one of my retirement life goals. I hope my future book club will be called “Between the Wines” or something else cute and clever.

Of course, we each read on our own, but the fun is in talking to others about what you read and hearing what they thought. I know there are some solitary readers out there who think I have entirely missed the point of a good book. As an adult, I can see this perspective, but as a kid I wasn’t buying it.

So, when Mikey’s elementary school started their One Book, One School program, I was ALL IN. Every child in the school is given a copy of the book along with a chapter-by-chapter literature guide which has activities related to the book.

The Trumpet of the Swan was the book for the year.  Mikey and I cozied up and read the first chapter aloud.  Then we did the activity: listening to an online recording of a swan trumpeting.

I am sure Mikey couldn’t do every activity in the whole literature guide, but it was geared for 1^st-4^th grade so he could do some of them.  I didn’t care anyway because what we want most is for our kids to be included.  When they are, try not to opt out. Instead, think outside the box and figure out how your child can participate in some way.  Maybe they could listen to the book on an audiobook app, or you could read each chapter in smaller chunks instead of all at once. Maybe there is a library video that is true to the story. Or maybe, you don’t even read the book, but you choose the activities that are appropriate for your child and do those.

Just Include Yourselves

No matter how you choose to do it, just get involved. That way, when the teacher has a special needs student in their class the following year, they have seen the modifications firsthand, and they can teach the next class how to get involved from your example.  More inclusion leads to more inclusion until it is expected, until it is normal for everyone to be invited. 

Sometimes your truly important parenting work comes disguised as a book with a swan on the cover.