The Invisible Toolbox: The Power of Reading to Your Child from Birth to Adolescence (Parenting Book, Child Development)

"This book is a must for anyone who is ever around children! Imagine how different the world would be if all parents, teachers, grandparents, and aunties read this book!" --Amazon review

Reading aloud is the essential tool for preparing your child for kindergarten and beyond

The single most important thing you can do for your child. 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 The Invisible Toolbox, Kim 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. She is convinced that the simple act of reading aloud has a far-reaching impact that few of us fully understand and that our recent, nearly universal saturation in technology has further clouded its importance.

Essential book for parents. In The Invisible Toolbox, Kim weaves her practical anecdotal experience as an educator and parent into the hard research of recent findings in neuroscience. She reminds us that the first years of life are critical in the formation and receptivity of the primary predictor of success in school―language skills―and that infants begin learning immediately at birth. She also teaches and inspires us to build our own toolboxes so that we can help our children build theirs.

Inside discover:

• Ten priceless tools for your child's toolbox
• 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 needs to prepare their child for kindergarten and beyond

If you enjoyed books like Honey for a Child's Heart, The Read-Aloud Handbook, Screenwise, or The Enchanted Hour; you will love The Invisible Toolbox―from a 21st century Charlotte Mason.

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.