Helping Your 1 to 2-Year-Old Get Ready to Read

Parents and caregivers -- you've heard you should read to your toddler, do you feel you have no idea where to start?  Are you wondering how you can get your active little person to sit down and read a book?  Come to the downtown library Monday night, and learn how simple and fun it is to get your child ready to read.   You'll learn more about the Five Practices:

• Talking
• Singing
• Reading
• Writing
• Playing

...and how they can teach your child about letters and language and sounds and books -- and get them ready to read!  All attendees will receive a free gift and certificate of completion, and door prizes will be given away.  At the end of the program, we'll do a brief tour of the Children's Department and the Early Learning Center. 

Ready to Read -- Toddlers!

Monday, October 10, 2011

7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

(Next month, November 14, from 7-8:00 p.m., there will be a session for parents & caregivers of preschoolers, ages 3 to 5.  Feel free to come to both sessions!)

Ruining Good Things

The new book Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen caught my eye today as I was passing by the new book shelves because I am ALWAYS looking for ways to ruin good things.

I was hooked when I read this in the introduction:
"Here now for the first time, are ten sure ways to destroy the Imagination of Your Child...I am sure that a judicious application of even three or four of these methods will suffice to kill the imagination of an Einstein, a Beethoven, a Dante, or a Michelango." (from p.xiii)

Mind you, I haven't read the whole book, but what I have read, strangely enough, reminds me of Lemony Snicket and makes me want to put everything else aside so that I can give it my full attention. I imagine the message here will be similar to that found in Susan Linn's The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World which is a great parenting read.

Launching Young Readers

All developing readers go through typical stages of learning. If you are a parent, teacher or caregiver helping a child learn to read, this PBS series will be of interest to you. Click here to watch an episode online or view the contents of the series of ten episodes. If you don't want to watch the online version, or you would like to show an episode to a group, check out the DVDs from our Parent Teacher Collection at Main Library.

I'm Scared!

Children have many fears -- of the dark, of storms, of monsters, and other things. The library has a variety of books written to help children deal with their fears -- and you can find many of them on our Fears Booklists.

Titles may be placed on hold, or call or visit us and we'll be happy to help you find the materials you need.

What's inside?

As you walk through the Children's Department of the downtown library, do you ever wonder what is inside the big blue bags? Or what is inside the small blue and yellow bags? Or what is inside the boxes in the PTC section?
Well, if you have ever wondered about any of these things, the display in our glass case is for you!
We have displayed the "insides" of these items.
The big blue bags are our Kits for Kids. The Kits for Kids encompass an enormous array of subjects. They hold eight picture books, one DVD or CD and usually a book from our PTC collection.
The smaller blue and yellow bags are our Parent and Child Sets. Each bag focuses on one letter from the alphabet or one number. Inside the Parent and Child Sets are applicable books to help your child learn their letters and manipulatives that might be a lacing letter or a letter stamp. There are also activity sheets to provide ideas to further your child's letter and number knowledge.
The Character Education boxes are from our Parent Teacher Collection. Each box contains a DVD, a picture book, an activity book, an evaluation book and a home ties book. These boxes are great and fun ways to teach character.
Please stop by our Children's Department and let us help you find the perfect kit, set or box!

Parent Teacher Shelf

Parents play an important role in helping children learn to talk. It's common for clear speech to develop over many years. If you want to learn about speech development or if you sense that your child may have a problem, take a look at this: Teach Me How to Say It Right, Helping Your Child With Articulation Problems, by Dorothy P. Dougherty. It's one of many new books on the Parent Teacher Shelf--a great resource for grown-ups who care about kids!

Back to School Night Tips

Many schools in the area are scheduling "Back to School Nights" for their families. This is a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to meet teachers and school staff as well as other families. Reading Rockets offers these tips for other things to look for on Back to School Night.

New Seussville Website

Fans of Dr. Seuss may want to check out the recently updated Seussville site -- chock full of new games and activities for kids, as well as lesson ideas for teachers and tips for parents.

Magazines Galore!

We have magazines for children, magazines for parents and teachers, magazines, magazines, and more magazines!  

And now on our website you'll find handy lists and descriptions of all the magazines that are available in the Children's Services department.  Check out these lists, and then come in and check out a magazine!

Check this out! Jim Gill HERE Tomorrow!

Jim Gill will be at the main library, performing on the plaza for four shows:
Friday July 23 2:00pm AND 7:00pm
Saturday July 24 11:00am AND 1:00 pm

And again: Jim Gill Will Perform on the Plaza!

We cannot believe we get to host the wonderful, fun, amazing and captivating musician Jim Gill at the library! We keep pinching ourselves!! Honestly, this is a musician we dance to regularly in our story times ~ Silly Dance Contest anyone?
Click on the link above to watch Jim in action!

Jim Gill will be at the main library, performing on the plaza for four shows:

Friday July 23 2:00pm AND 7:00pm
Saturday July 24 11:00am AND 1:00 pm

Early Childhood Teachers - Take Note!

Summer is the perfect time to start planning your lessons and activities for the upcoming school year. As you plan, be sure to check out our newly-updated list of Early Childhood Curriculum Resources.

Parents of young children will also find this list useful. It's chock-full of developmentally appropriate crafts, stories, and songs for the young children in YOUR life!

Kiwi Magazine

Want to know the natural way to handle a bee sting?
Wish you had a cheat sheet of unhealthy ingredients to avoid when you're at the grocery store?
Interested in whipping up a "green power potion" smoothie to get more fruits and veggies into your family's diet?


Then check out the latest issue of Kiwi magazine. You'll find all this and much more in the magazine for "growing families the natural and organic way." Ask a librarian to show you where to find it in the Parent-Teacher Collection here in Children's Services.

National Playground Safety Week

This week is an opportunity for families, community parks, schools and child-care facilities to focus on preventing public playground-related injuries. More than 200,000 children (that's one child every 2 1/2 minutes) require emergency room treatment due to playground injuries every year.
Visit the Playground Safety website to learn more.

Very Busy Bees

From sunup to sundown, "extra busy" children have an endless supply of energy and remain on the move throughout the day. Ants in Their Pants offers successful and tested techniques to help caregivers, educators, and parents provide the best support to active learners so they can thrive in the classroom and at home. These ideas—from a teacher of both special and general education who is a parent of an extra busy child—provide information on how to help extra busy children use their energy to learn while helping teacher understand children who need to move.
Aerial Cross, MA, holds a master's degree in special education and has over ten years of experience as an educator in both general and special education classrooms.

Say Yes to No!

Do you have trouble telling your kids 'no'? Adults and caregivers, join us as we begin to explore a new way of empowering ourselves and our children by introducing the "Say Yes to No" concept. This educational presentation from Great Kids Make Great Communities will provide a brief overview of psychologist David Walsh's book No. Why Kids of all Ages Need to Hear it and Ways Parents Can Say It. Don't miss this informational session tonight at 6pm.

* Participants will be entered into a drawing to win one of three copies of Dr. David Walsh's book: No. Why Kids of all Ages Need to Hear it and Ways Parents Can Say It.

How to Protect Your Child Online

This book provides actual methods for real online safety for any child, any age. Not only does it provide tips, it also offers the "How To" and the "Why's" behind the information. The information is presented in an easy and simple, straight forward way that any busy parent can read or refer to. Don't Get PWNed! is full of common sense solutions that are effective.

Valerie Tutson - Storyteller Extraordinaire!

We are thrilled to present internationally renowned storyteller, Valerie Tutson!
Valerie will be performing Tales from Around the World Thursday, October 22.
The first performance will be at 10:30 am.
The second performance will be at 1:00 pm.
Do not miss this one of a kind opportunity!
Registration is required for this FREE event - contact Children's Services 421-1220.
Seating is limited - Call today!

Make it last, don't waste it, use it differently

Calling all kids!
Must be curious. Like to have fun. Oh yes, and interested in saving the planet.
Sound like you? Good! Because you can make a big impact on the Earth's future in small ways.
Check it out!

Kids Experience Stress and Anxiety, Too

Anxiety-Free Kids offers parents strategies that help children become happy and worry free, methods that relieve a child's excessive anxieties and phobias, and tools for fostering interaction and family-oriented solutions. Using a unique companion approach that offers two books in one-a practical, reader-friendly book for parents and a fun workbook for kids-this solutions-oriented guide utilizes the cognitive-behavioral approach to therapy by integrating the parent in the child's self-help process.