Reading for pleasure can easily sound like some kind of wishy-washy, soft option, while instructional stuff like learning-to-read through 'synthetic phonics' and endless worksheets requiring children to answer questions about the facts in short passages, sounds tough and purposeful. — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Politicians of all kinds think there's some running in talking tough about children's reading. They think that if they announce to the public that some kind of daily drilling on sounds and letters is to be brought in, the problem… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Performance poetry is not one genre. Some chant, sing and dance. Some stand rooted to the spot and stare. Some chat their way in… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Anyway, once children get to talk, they seem to be finding ways to joke. — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
When I was about 15 - that would be some 60 years ago - I remember my father, a secondary school teacher, was always… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
One of the many falsities of fiction that we accept quite happily is the non-ageing of characters as they appear across series and sequels. — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Commitment is not a barrier to freedom. Commitment is the *exercise* of freedom, the act of making a choice or decision and meaning it.… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
What happens on the ground is that schools have been required to follow a literacy matrix - yes, some schools junked it - but… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Yes, it's possible to play computer games on your own and many do. But I also see children playing them in pairs and fours… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
You can give up the best years of your life knowing that no matter what you do or how you do it, your step-child… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
We have an almost complete comprehensive primary school system in England. Surely, if grammar schools are some kind of answer to making education better… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Where the government has got it seriously wrong is to imagine that poetry is about right and wrong answers, that poetry has testable outcomes.… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Its social: in doing the arts we find out what we need from each other. But its also about survival - surviving as individuals,… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
Cricket is great for families, so long as you don't play by the proper rules and adapt it so the youngest can be helped… — Michael Rosen Copy Share Image
