Reading To Children

Vigen Guroian, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at Loyola College in Maryland, has read the important tomes by the authorities in his field. He has even written a couple of them.But to his mind, one of the best sources of moral wisdom lies in the classic fairy tales read to us when we were children.Not the sanitized Disney versions, mind you. But classics like the stories by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," and the story of the wooden puppet who wanted to become a real boy, "Pinocchio."

Remember when Chelsea Clinton and NBC News launched this misadventure featuring her as a "special correspondent" on "Rock Center" with a fanfare of hype and outright lies about what she and the journalistically-challenged NBC News were up to? Steve Capus, the recently deposed president of NBC News, said "it was as if she had been preparing her whole life" for the job. Clinton herself told "Rock Center" host Brian Williams as part of her first appearance that she took the TV job to lead a more "purposefully public life" highlighting people who are "making a difference.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Reading/index.htmlThe U.S. Department of Education gives advice to parents whose children are 10 years old or younger. Brief articles discuss the importance of parents reading to their children and provides examples of reading activities that children and parents can enjoy together. The Resources page lists recommended books by subject and age categories.-- Reviewed by Andrea Wilson, Sun news researcherPub Date: 4/22/98

So, what is the key to helping your child become a reader? In one word: reading! Research shows the most important thing parents and caregivers can do to help their children succeed in school is read aloud to them every day. Reading aloud to children also helps them:* expand their vocabularies* appreciate the value of books and reading* understand new ideas and concepts* learn about the world around them.- From "The Read - Aloud Handbook,"by Jim Trelease (Penguin, 1995)Pub date: 5/31/98

Dr. Joseph William Ciarrocchi, a former priest, author, professor and chairman of pastoral counseling at Loyola University Maryland, died of multiple myeloma on Oct. 22 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Baltimore. The Columbia resident was 66. Dr. Ciarrocchi was born during World War II in San Francisco, where his father was stationed at the Presidio army post. The family of three later moved to Philadelphia, where his mother died when Dr. Ciarrocchi was 9. His father remarried, and Dr. Ciarrocchi gained two sisters whom he adored: stepsister Maria Greenwald, who grew up to be a mayor of Cherry Hill, N.J., and was killed in a car crash 1995, and a half-sister, Lucia Lawrence of Lyndhurst, N.J. The Ciarrocchis settled in New Jersey, where Dr. Ciarrocchi's father worked as an electrical engineer for RCA Broadcast Systems, helping develop technology that improved portable videotaping.

Carolynn L. Kraft, a homemaker and volunteer, died of heart failure Sunday at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. She was 80. Born in Baltimore, the former Carolynn Louise Miegel was raised on Mount Holly Street and graduated in 1942 from Western High School. After graduating from Maryland Institute College of Art, she was a draftsman for Bartlett-Hayward Co., a Southwest Baltimore equipment manufacturer, during World War II. In 1944, she married Lawrence Stephen Kraft, a U.S. Customs Service admeasurer who examined the dimensions and capacities of ships.

CURRENT volunteers' news and needs:Sickle Cell Association, Maryland Chapter volunteers and staff are holding a walk-a-thon on Sept. 15. Walkers and runners are invited. A mini-walk will also be held. For sponsor sheets and complete details, call 837-3050.BOur Daily Bread, a soup kitchen at 200 W. Franklin St., is looking for volunteers. The kitchen also is holding a workshop on the homeless at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. For information call, 539-2744.Parents Anonymous will hold training for facilitators and "stress-line" volunteers from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sept.

In Annapolis, Gov. Parris N. Glendening will share a meal of green eggs and ham - and some of his favorite books - with Piney Orchard Elementary School first-graders. At Crofton Woods Elementary School, children from Japan and France will join in the reading festivities through the Internet. And in Dundalk, the day at Norwood Elementary School will begin with a parade. Then, the whole Baltimore County school - janitors and teachers included - will take a break from daily lessons and duties to read.

Just as life expectancy may be increased with improved socioeconomic status, so, too, could IQ.IQ levels of disadvantaged children of all races could be raised if they received greater intellectual stimulation at home, said sociologist Jonathan Crane of the University of Illinois at Chicago.A study of 12,686 people born between 1957 and 1964 showed that when all socioeconomic factors were equal, there were no differences on reading and math scores among different races.Early intervention, parent training and a compensatory education system that emphasizes parental involvement are affordable measures that could significantly raise test scores, Mr. Crane said.

New York -- At 82, Jessica Tandy is a lot like the drum-beating bunny of the battery commercial: Neither time nor age nor infirmity can slow her down; she just keeps going and going and going . . .Since adding an Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" to her Emmy and three Tony awards, thus becoming a rare triple-crown winner in a theatrical career spanning 62 years, Ms. Tandy has been swamped with work.After an illness last year, she has come back to make two as-yet unreleased feature films, "Used People" and "Fried Green Tomatoes," and tonight she will be in an NBC made-for-TV movie that bids fair to become one of those yuletide perennials.