Parents who have high yet realistic expectations for their children, and who set and uphold clear limits for their behaviour.
Family boundaries • School boundaries
Neighbourhood boundaries • Adult role models
Positive peer influence • High expectations
In A Promise is a Promise, Allashua ignores her mother’s warning not to go fishing alone on the sea ice. She doesn’t believe the legend about sea-creatures who grab unprotected children. She soon learns otherwise. When the Inuit girl escapes their clutches, she finds herself on thin ice, indeed. The sea-creatures free her on the condition that she sacrifice her brothers and sisters to them instead.
She tearfully confesses her mistakes to her parents. Convinced their remorseful daughter has learned her lesson without shaming or blaming, they are quick to offer support. They prefer problem-solving to punishment. These parents involve the whole family in outwitting the creatures. Inspired by memories of tales and time in the Arctic, Robert Munsch (and co-author Michael Kusugak) blend a traditional story with a modern-day setting in a story as suspenseful as any on TV.
A book’s content may be beyond a child’s reading level. Picture books, for example, can have a reading level of third grade or higher. Are your expectations in line with your child’s skills?
To decide which books are right for independent reading, notice if your child can read a few pages of a book with 95 percent accuracy. That is, does he or she miss only one out of every 20 words? If a young reader falters on one out of every ten words, take turns reading the book together. You can supply words too difficult for him or her to read. If your child misses more than one in ten, to reduce frustration, make this book one that you read aloud.