Kim Karalekas

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As I’m sure we all know by know, Reading Rainbow in done and done. What a shame. And another beautiful example of how off kilter our view of education is. And by our, I mean those in charge of the education system…so perhaps the Dept. of Education…the Government?

I heard a piece on NPR about Reading Rainbow – the most interesting point to me was this: ‘ . . . decision ot end “Reading Rainbow” can also be traced back to a philosophical change about TV and reading. He says the change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on things like phonics and spelling, the basic tools of reading.”

So, pause right there.

Yes, the basics are obviously important, but engagement is the first step. I was hooked on Reading Rainbow because it taught me WHY to read first…then I was taught HOW. Apparently this system of thought is backwards now – teaching kids HOW to read first, skipping what I think is arguably the most important step in the process, why they should love to read. Ugh.

So to mourn the loss of Reading Rainbow, I went to the public library here in Austin and spent some time in the children’s section, reading through books I had read because of Reading Rainbow. It was a fantastic experience, I can’t tell you how much inspiration and ideas can be found in children’s book. Inspiration and ideas about design, thinking outside the box, storytelling, typography, imagination…

So what’s children’s programming going to look for our next generation?