Jr Review

Welcome to Jr Review, the fun, safe learning place for children & parents to receive educational plans and curriculum; homework, standardized testing, and other studying tips; reviews of authors, books, even schools and more!

Noelle Youngblood has been self-employed as a professional tutor since the 1990’s. She is a licensed teacher, having worked for several private and public K-12 schools, teaching English, musical theater, and other subjects. For many years now, Noelle has been successful as an educational consultant. Having earned her Juris Doctorate, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Science degrees, Noelle is expanding her business while remaining focused on the needs and potential of today’s students. Noelle’s experience with teaching children and her insight into how to effectively reach students of diverse backgrounds and learning styles enables her to advise parents competently as they seek the best academic, extra-curricular, and personal paths for their children.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

While there are countless books and authors I could recommend (and will in the upcoming months), I would like to start with The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. This story is appropriate for all ages; because of its fun adventures and colorful characters, children will enjoy the learning that inevitably takes place by reading this story, and adults will understand and enjoy the layers of meaning and humor in Juster’s clever phrasing.

Ideally, The Phantom Tollbooth is a story for adults to read with children, providing not only quality learning time for children but invaluable bonding time, too. While reading dialogue between characters, parents can discuss synonyms, new vocabulary words, root words, and different conjugations of words a child already knows. For instance, when one character describes something as “Great,” another will confirm, “Stupendous,” and a third may concur, “Outstanding!”

In the style of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Juster also infuses a fun children’s story with flavorful literary morsels for adults. For example, the princesses Rhyme and Reason were banished from the kingdom. Until they return, everything remains out of sorts.

On the journey to retrieve the much needed Rhyme and Reason, the characters discover the city of Reality, where inhabitants realized that they were losing too much time going from Point A to B because they were taking time to look around at the beautiful surroundings. As they corrected this “problem” by staring at their shoes and rushing from place to place, the city eventually disappeared because it was no longer noticed. The characters think it is strange that the residents of Reality don’t notice their city has disappeared, and this puzzling event in the story provides a prime opportunity for parents to discuss with children the value in taking time to reach out to others, count our blessings, and appreciate the many wonderful things around us every day.

The Phantom Tollbooth proves to be a timeless favorite for many readers, young and old. Take the time to read, and put a book in your children’s hands that will make them want to put down the TV remote, video game joystick, cell phone, or I-pod. The more we stay involved in the development of today’s youth, the faster they will reach their potential and the higher that potential will be!