Octopus

Daily we find treasures in the Early Learning Center mailbox. I couldn't resist sharing this special drawing of an octopus with you. This child had fun and worked on early literacy skills at the same time.

Please visit the Early Learning Center to practice early literacy skills with your preschooler!

Monday through Thursday 9am-8pm
Friday and Saturday 9am-6pm
Sunday 12pm to 5pm

See you there!

How Do You Read with a Baby?

Parents and caregivers of babies and young children -- and expectant parents, too -- are encouraged to attend our Early Literacy program on Print Motivation this Wednesday, November 18th, from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Come and learn what kinds of books are appropriate for the babies and toddlers that you care for, and find out how to make reading time FUN!

It's Letter H Playday!

Visit the Early Learning Center today with your preschooler and celebrate the Letter H! You can make a hand-flower, like the one in this photo, decorate a giant Letter H, and do other activities that are not only fun for you and your children, but also reinforce early literacy skills. For Letter H activities to do at home, click here.

Hats! Hats! Hats! will be our theme at Smart Start Storytime, from 10:30-11:00 a.m. Hope to see you today at the Library!

Early Learning Center Mailbox

Isn't this a wonderful story about a girl who loved to read. What do you think happens next?


Visit the Early Learning Center today with your preschooler to work on early literacy skills together. Writing stories is a great way to develop narrative skills.

The Early Learning Center is open:

Monday through Thursday 9am-8pm
Friday and Saturday 9am-6pm

Tomorrow is Letter H Play Day in the Early Learning Center!

Masterpiece Storytime

Join us for Smartstart Preschool Storytime at 10:30 today to celebrate masterpiece art!

We'll practice one of the six early literacy skills as we read, sing and play. Don't miss the fun.

Smart Start Storytime -- I Like Me!

Preschoolers! Join us this morning at 10:30 for storytime -- our theme will be
I Like Me!

We'll be doing some fun rhymes and songs and stories, to celebrate the specialness that is in each one of us.



Our Early Literacy Focus this week will be on Print Motivation, which simply means having an interest in and enjoyment of books and reading.

Some ways to encourage this are:

• Keep books in every room, in the car, in the diaper bag...you can catch a few minutes here and there when you and your children can enjoy sharing books.
• Play along, sing, or act out the motions in a story. By making stories fun, we are motivating children to want more!
• When you are reading a book with your child, don't worry about finishing the book. Engage your child as much as you can, and when your child loses interest, just continue another time.
  

For more Early Literacy tips, see our Everybody Reads page, or visit us at the Library!

Letter Play Day! Letter C

Start off Letter "C" Play Day by attending our Smart Start Storytime at 10:30 am today!



After storytime, spend some time exploring the letter "C" in the Early Learning Center. Activity stations designed for parent and child interaction will be available for use throughout the day, until the Early Learning Center closes at 8:00pm

Letter Play Days are a fun way to work on the early literacy skill letter knowledge with your preschooler. Letter knowledge is knowing the names of letters and the sounds that they make.

Early Learning Center Mailbox

Another wonderful drawing from the Early Learning Center mailbox.

Tell your child a story about this picture and you will help her to develop her narrative skills. Or have her draw one of her own and tell YOU a story.

Have Fun With Words

Take advantage of every opportunity to play with words!

Playing "I Spy" with your children is a great way to increase vocabulary in a fun and interactive way.
You can play it anywhere - the grocery store, the doctor's office or the carpool line. Not only will your children learn, but it will make waiting and shopping more fun for everyone!

Follow That Car! Talking & Reading to Infants & Toddlers

Did you know that talking and reading with very young children is one way of getting them ready to read? Encourage your child to get involved with books by using the CAR method:

Comment and wait

Ask questions and wait

Respond by adding a little more

(Waiting at least five seconds after commenting or asking questions gives the child time to respond.)

Ask your librarian for more ideas or visit
our Everybody Reads page for more ideas.

It's never too early! Start Now!

Early Learning Center Mailbox

There are so many things to look at and talk about in this picture. Drawing pictures with your preschooler is a great way to work on narrative skills. Narrative skills include the ability to describe things & events and to tell stories.

Make up a story about this drawing with your preschooler or create a drawing of your own to talk about.

To learn more about the six early literacy skills click here.

Early Learning Center Mailbox

Can you find two capital "B"s and the two lower case "b"s in this drawing?

What a creative way to work on letter knowledge!

Letter knowledge is knowing that letters are different from each other, knowing the names and sounds of the letters and recognizing letters everywhere. This is an important early literacy skill. For more information about the six skills your child needs to know in order to learn to read click here.

Letter L Play Day!

Today is Letter L Play Day! Start the day with Smart Start Preschool Storytime at 10:30 a.m. and then stay to play with the letter L in the Early Learning Center.

Letter L Play Day activities will be available from 9am to 8pm today! Don't miss this chance to work on letter knowledge with your preschooler. Letter knowledge is knowing the names and sounds of letters and is an important early literacy skill. For more information about early literacy skills, click here.

Early Learning Center Mailbox

Hi Trista,

Thank you for telling us about your visit to the library. We love to see children in the Early Learning Center playing (and learning) with their grown ups. By telling you silly stories while you played, your Grammy was helping you to improve your narrative skills. Way to go!

We hope that you and your Grammy come back to see us again soon!

Letter i Play Day!

Today is Letter I Play Day! Start out the day at Smart Start Preschool Storytime @ 10:30 to read about ice cream and then have some fun playing with the letter i in the Early Learning Center. The ELC will be open until 8 p.m.

Letter Play Days are a fun way to work on the early literacy skill letter knowledge with your preschooler. Letter knowledge is knowing the names of letters and the sounds that they make.

If you can't make it to letter play day today, take a few minutes to talk about the letter i with your child (while eating ice cream). You can also make an i out of clay, practice writing the letter i together or look for the letter i in a book together. Have fun!

Letter M Play Day!

Today is Letter M Play Day! Visit the Early Learning Center between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. to play with the letter M. Participating in letter play days will help your preschooler gain letter knowledge, one of the six early literacy skills.

Please join us at 10:30 a.m. for a Smart Start Preschool storytime about Manners. Thank you!

Even if you can't make it to the Early Learning Center or to storytime today, you can enjoy letter M activities with your preschooler at home. Spend the day noticing things that start with the letter M, talk about the sound that M makes, make a letter M out of clay or cut an M out of paper and decorate it with macaroni. You can even bake cookies shaped like mice or monkeys and share them with your favorite blogger!

Letter B Play Day!

Celebrate letter B play day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today in the Early Learning Center. You will find activities and games focusing on the letter 'B'. If you can't make it in today, make it a letter b play day at home with your preschooler. Work together to find all of the things in the room that start with the letter 'B', practice writing 'B' together, see if you can make the letter 'B' with your body or draw a picture of something that starts with the letter 'B'.

You can also celebrate the letter 'B' at the Smart Start Preschool Storytime "Bats are Beautiful" at 10:30 a.m. today.

In a Dark, Dark Wood

In a Dark, Dark Wood by David A. Carter is the perfect "scary" story for preschoolers. This wonderfully creepy and amazingly simple book pulls the reader in until the scary surprise at the end literally jumps off of the page!

After just a few readings, you and your preschooler will have the story memorized and can tell the story together. This is a great way for your preschooler to practice his/her narrative skills, an important part of early literacy.

For more scary books for kids of all ages, check out our Scary Stories Booklist. Or if you like books that jump out at you, check out our list of Pop-Up Books.

Let's Make Music

Let's Make Music this morning at 10:30 a.m. during Smart Start Preschool Storytime. We'll read and sing our way through some great picture books like Punk Farm by Jarrett Krosoczka, Do Your Ears Hang Low? by Caroline Church, and There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star by Charise Harper.

We'll sing and dance with musicians like Jim Gill, Hap Palmer and Raffi.

Music is a fun and entertaining way to teach kids important skills and information. During storytime today, we'll talk about the early literacy skill phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear the smaller sounds in words. Singing songs is an awesome way to practice phonological awareness with preschoolers.

If you are a teacher looking for ways to bring music into the classroom, check out our music across the curriculum booklist. Music is not just for preschoolers!

Baby and Toddler Storytime

Don't Miss the Fun!

Join us for our Babies & Books and
Toddler Time every Friday morning!

Babies & Books - every Friday at 10am

Toddler Time - every Friday at 10:30am and 11am