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Any educator knows that books open doors for children.
If you’re passionate about improving children’s lives, you know the quickest way to do so is to find books for kids that meet them right where they are; opening the doors to reading.
Check out these reasons why some top educators are turning towards the unlikely field of self-publishing to help their students succeed.
It helps students exactly where they are.
Great educators know that books need to meet students right where their ability level is. Schools often assign the books to the year group/grade and set the expectation for a childs ability - this can be daughting. Books for kids that are too far beyond their zone for proximal development will cause frustration and disappointment. Books for kids that are too easy won’t challenge students and they could become bored and listless. There’s a skill to finding the right level of book for students.
Once you learn how to self-publish, you’ll be able to easily create texts that are appropriate for your students wherever they may be on their reading journey. Whether it’s you or an experienced ghostwriter at the helm of your writing project, you’ll be able to be the final eyes on the quantity of words on a page, number of challenging words to read, and even whether or not the text rhymes to help build fluency. By specializing books for kids from your own experience, you’ll be able to meet your developing readers right where they are.
Self-published content teaches just what you need it to.
Books are rarely just used to teach reading in the classroom anymore. With limited instructional time and a push for cross-curricular learning, books become the vehicle to teach standards in science, social studies, and other subjects. It can be challenging as an educator when you need to teach content in science but your students aren’t ready to read at that level. Self-publishing books for kids allows teachers to take control and avoid this problem. You know your students best, and you can breakdown the barriers between levels by creating those books yourself.
Also consider using narrative to better help your students learn. While non-fiction is a great start, adding some fiction to help teach challenging content makes it all the more engaging. So for example, as opposed to simply reading about the solar system, students can go on a journey through the solar system with characters that help keep them engaged in the content. Books for children should be relatable, interesting and inspiring. Once you learn how to self-publish, your students will have more resources at their hands to engage in challenging content and standards.
Your content can help them grow as people.
The truth is the best curriculum still doesn’t understand the nuances of the students you teach in your classroom every day. Teachers don’t just know what content students need to learn to pass standardized tests, they also know how students need to grow interpersonally and individually. Many educators have turned to self-publishing to teach these niche ideas that curriculum doesn’t seem to cover.
For example, consider the trauma students may experience when their school burns down or when a loved teacher passes away. These traumatic experiences can be best discussed with students through the form of narrative. Narrative allows students to know that they aren’t alone in their uncomfortable situation and allows them to process their challenging feelings in a safe place.
Another example is some study skills that the curriculum doesn’t always build into student’s coursework. Having books for kids to help them learn to organize their backpack or study for a test could be valuable. These skills are frequently untaught but vital skills for student’s success in school. Self-publishing opens doors for students by allowing teachers to truly specialize the content they provide to what their students need as individuals and citizens of the world.
It’s fun for you and your students. Teach it with a book.
At the end of the day, writing books for kids is a true act of love. Your students face’s will show their appreciation that you cared enough to write something just for them. They’ll see themselves in the characters you write about and engage in meaningful ways with the text. And, perhaps most importantly of all, you’ll be a great role model in writing for your students. Developing readers are also developing writers, and what better way to inspire students than to show them that they too can read and write just like their admired teacher.
Teach it with a book!
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