Watching children grow and develop as readers and writers is a rewarding experience. We invite you to try these ways to support children's literacy development at home. 

Sydney Fishkin ’21 describes making poetry as "freeing." "It allows you to express yourself without directly telling people what you are really talking about," she adds. Her classmate, Ian Marsh ’21, agrees. "It was a way to be open about myself in a way I never thought I could."

Stephanie Hoos, English Faculty and Middle School Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator, supports her Grade 8 students in reflecting meaningfully on their own and others' beliefs.  Ms. Hoos describes her objective as "supporting curiosity in students and engaging with deeper questions through the overarching concepts of windows and mirrors. Windows give us a point of view into another person's space, perceptions, world views, thoughts, and feelings. Mirrors give us greater insight into ourselves and ask us to think critically about our own beliefs and behaviors." 

Students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 are joyfully immersed in reading and writing, building the foundational skills needed to evolve as able researchers who can assess diverse information and shape and share their own meaningful perspectives.  Grade 4 students learn about nonfiction structure, including how to use headings and subtitles to provide clues on where information can be found while conducting research. Grade 4 student Penny Prince explains that this is useful, saying, "I have the ability to find a subtopic faster than normal. My brain was familiar with finding information quicker and not having to read through everything on the website I was looking at."

Anna Lubowitz, English Faculty, describes her objectives for King Grade 7 students as, "I want students to improve their ability to be critical readers and thinkers and to appreciate that everyone has a different experience of what it means to 'come of age in America,' which is our theme for Grade 7 English."