Debates about reading go back centuries. In the 1800s, Horace Mann, the father of the public-school movement in the United States, denounced the idea of teaching children that letters represent sounds. By the 1980s, the debate was so intense that people referred to it as “the reading war.” It was phonics versus whole language. The […]
Melissa Martin, Special to Richland Source
Posted inColumns
Can Ohio libraries be a place for a phonics awareness program?
Should librarians or library specialists teach phonics to parents? To young children at libraries? Or to both parents and young children? Every Child Ready to Read at your library (ECRR) is a parent/caregiver education initiative, directed toward public library staff, intended to promote early literacy. Early literacy is what children learn and know about reading […]
Posted inLife and Culture, Wellness
Banish that fat critic in 2022
Make 2022 the year of kicking the inner fat critic’s voice out of your brain body, and soul. That pesky and persistent self-talk that shames and blames you in front or mirrors and behind closed doors. Constant comparing to others – weight, shape, size. Kick those faulty beliefs to the curb once and for all. […]
Posted inLife and Culture, Wellness
Ohio, Make 2022 a Year to Read
No pressure. No noble goal to read 101 books in 12 months. No guilt. Just read. In 2021, a Pew Research Center survey found that 77 percent of Americans read a book (includes audiobooks). Wow. Can you hear those brain cells firing and wiring? In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, print book sales had […]
Posted inEducation
New book by Ohio children’s author has comedy angle
Melissa Martin’s new picture book is making children giggle. Why? Because kids love to laugh about underpants stories. One morning, Bear Cub wakes up and finds underwear hanging on a tree limb. Who could they belong to? Ever inquisitive, he sets out on a quest through the forest to find the tighty whities’ rightful owner. […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Ohioans have the opportunity to enjoy a plant palooza
The flower garden is back in vogue due to COVID-19 mandates to stay home. People are discovering or rediscovering a plant paradise on their own piece of the planet. And that includes me. A Heuchera hullabaloo. The spikes of tall, bell-shaped blooms give the coral bell flowers their name. And the foliage is gorgeous. Who […]
Posted inOpinion
Try to avoid these scary after-Christmas diets
Please do not try the following fad diets as they can be hazardous to your ho-ho-ho health. However, laughing along with my attempt at humor may burn a few calories. If a certain diet worked, everybody everywhere would know about it. Food fads travel around the planet and back. Weight loss scams come and go. […]
Posted inOpinion
Do you need a Grouch on the Couch?
Parents use Elf on the Shelf as a surveillance device to ensure younger children are behaving during the holidays. But what about a mom with teens, a spouse, and a dog? Well, worry no more. I have a marvelous idea. It’s called Grouch on the Couch. And it’s to be used all year long. What […]
Posted inOpinion
Should Ohio ban tackle football for children 14 and younger?
A heap of controversy surrounds this topic. Those are fightin’ words! That’s how football fans and football fanatics may respond. Or pigskin-minded parents and coaches. A 2018 study published in The Journal of Pediatrics summarizes the research team’s key findings: concussion rates among football players ages 5-14 were higher than previously reported, with five out […]
Posted inOpinion
A clemency argument for battered women in Ohio’s prisons
Kill or be killed. “On the night he died, after a day of heavy drinking, Andrew Harris sexually and verbally assaulted Mia. When the abuse became physical, Mia told Andrew “No,” and told him to leave her home. Instead, he cut her. When she tried to escape, he strangled her until she passed out. Before […]