Growing Readers is like…

Metaphors can have a powerful influence on society and our understanding of concepts. 

When poet laureate Stanley Kunitz was asked for advice on how to write great poetry, he replied, “Grow a garden, it will help you with your metaphors.” I suspect he might have shared the same advice if he had been asked about teaching and learning.

Metaphorically speaking

If our underlying metaphor for teaching and learning is based on a factory model, we might view our children moving down an assembly line—vessels to be filled. One of the greatest challenges with this worldview is that it tends to overemphasize short-term outputs. We’re just getting kids to the end of the line and then ship them off into the world.

On the other hand, if we view young learners as thriving plants growing side-by-side in a garden, our actions and expectations change dramatically. We are much more likely to tend to our seedlings, because just like plants, avid readers grow best from a foundation rich in materials that are particularly suited to their needs. 

If we view young learners as thriving plants, we also will tend to value longer-term outcomes, like growing lifelong readers. 

Plant literacy seeds

Seeds are packed with potential; planting them carries an inherent message of hope. Books also are packed with potential. Our hope is that one day all families will cultivate book gardens within their homes and establish a daily routine of sharing the bounty of those gardens—sharing books and reading together.

 Garden with us

If you value literacy as fundamental to a thriving community, we invite you to garden with us. By gardening together, we can grow communities filled with lifelong learners.