I pop onto Facebook ocassionally throughout the day when I get a few moments to check updates. Not only do I get posts from family and friends, but I also get postings from assorted sites such as NPR, Montessori for Everyone, Skip to My Lou, Time 4 Learning, The Homeschool Channel, Lesson Planet, UU World, updates from my Church for local events, and, you guessed it!, PBS. You can imagine how shocked I was Friday afternoon when I had a few moments free to check my news feed and right at the top of the page was a blurb from PBS thanking all of Reading Rainbow's supporters as it leaves the air.
I just sat there for a few moments as the article loaded (of course I wanted to know more. What happened?!) and thought about all of the wonderful books I saw on this show as a child that I hadn't even known existed. I always went right down to my small town library and asked for many of the books I saw on this show. (I think now my librarian must have had feelings of dread each time she saw me coming. LOL) I still know the song by heart and I must admit that I honestly thought this would be one of those few shows that would last forever not only because of the quality but how absolutely important learning how to love to read is! But alas, it's not to be. Reading Rainbow is one of the longest running children's program at 26 years, coming in behind only Sesame Street and Mister Rodgers Neighborhood.
 Production on the show actually ended several years ago and viewers had declined. Through research, the focus is now on literacy and the core skills. Although learning to love reading is the first step to actually learning how it's no longer considered as important. They're both intertwined very close and it's sad that they're now being torn apart. Our public schools seem to be taking the track of learning is everything, but they're not really teaching our kids how to learn, let alone loveing to learn. Just because you know something doesn't mean that you have the knowledge or experience to actually use it in your life and sadly, it's that experience that is lacking from most schools in our country today. Dropping the arts, music, even recess in favor of phonics and other heavier areas of learning are going to lead to a serious detriment to our children's knowledge, experience and leadership qualities in the years to come. The logo says it all! "Opening Books ~ Opening Minds"
A Few Sites To Check Out
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PBS ~ the official Reading Rainbow site (that won't be around much longer so check it out while you still can)
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Canlearn.com ~ Reading Rainbow program descriptions and suggested activities
According to one of the comments left on the post on PBS's Facebook, "A world without a reading rainbow is sad world indeed." But you don't have to take my word for it.......
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