Kids and Family Reading Report Released

According to Library Journal in a March 19 blog post by Gary Price: 

"Scholastic released results from the seventh edition of its Kids & Family Reading Report™, a biennial national survey of parents’ and children’s reading attitudes and behaviors. Those surveyed include more than 1,000 pairs of children ages 6–17 and their parents, as well as 678 parents of kids ages 0–5. The research reveals the diversity parents and children seek in books, explores how reading helps children understand their world and indicates the importance of book access and reading role models."

YSS Regional Meet-up: Program Swap

YSS survey respondents said that they wanted more ideas for programs they could use at their libraries large and small, rural and urban, and at minimal cost. Well, YSS Leadership listened. 

At the first regional meet-up of 2019 held at the Portage County Library in Stevens Point, WI on January 14, one of the professional development activities was a program swap. Programs had to cost $25 or less, but other than that there were no caveats. So here are the programs for kids, teens, and families that attendees shared. For more details, view the GoogleDoc version.

Ugly Sweater Party
Spy Games
Party Like a Jedi
Maker Monday After School Group: Solar Cookies (from NASA website)
Oh My Gourd! Improvised Jack-o-lanterns
Pictionary with Pudding
Chocolate Olympics
Graffiti Corner
Family Read Aloud Challenge (follow up to 1000 Books Program)
Perler Bead Program
Who’s Your Gnomie (Stuffed Sock Gnomes)
Weekly Dewey Challenge
 Cookie Clicker
Stroop Effect
Pageturners
Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Great Back Yard Bird Count
Collage Cityscapes
Vote for Book Purchases
Three Billy Goats Gruff - STEM Activity
Debate Club
Silent Library Program

 
Regional meet-ups are open to both members and non-members. They are an excellent way to gather new ideas; learn about best practices in libraries; see other spaces, collections, and displays; and grow your connections to other library staff serving youth in Wisconsin. The next meet-up is scheduled for
 the afternoon of February 22 at the Hales Corners and Muskego Public Libraries. Watch your email and this blog for a link to sign up.

Tips for a Child Who Hates to Read

Publishers Lee and Low Books have a blog, The Open Book, that often addresses issues and topics on diversity, literacy and inclusion. They recently published a helpful post by Jill Eisenberg that suggests fifteen ideas to share with parents whose child hates reading. These are practical, doable and suggest easy ways for parents to be gentle literacy coaches with their child.

You can read the post here.

Manitowoc's 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Event

Submitted by Susie Menk, Youth Librarian at Manitowoc Public Library

In August, Manitowoc Public Library hosted a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Event.  We wanted to do a graduation party but decided that might limit participation.  We decided to just do an event to celebrate 1000 Books before Kindergarten—for those who have already completed it, for those who are in the middle of the program and for those who have never heard of it.

We planned several stations based on the five early literacy skills—reading, writing, singing, playing and talking.  We started out the event by gathering everyone into our normal storytime setting and doing a read aloud book.  The book was read twice, once just a read through, the second time a dialogic reading.  

It was fairly obvious to parents, which type of reading engaged their child more, which lead into a brief (VERY SHORT) discussion of the five early literacy skills.  We encouraged parents to do the stations WITH their child and as you can see in the photos, they did!!!

Many of the ideas we used can be found on the Manitowoc Public Library Pinterest page. 

We did Song sticks, upper and lowercase matching games with plastic eggs, color matching with clothespins, flannels, nursery rhyme games, a puppet theater, dress up clothes, letter matching with pool noodles pieces, magnets on a board, writing and drawing on a white board, flannels, shape matching and creative play with Legos™.  Most of these materials are things we keep on hand or were cheap and easy to make. 

It was a great success.  The best part is we kept the activity pieces and parts and now have them to use in storytimes!

Bookmarks for Early Literacy Practices with Babies

Saroj Ghoting, an early childhood literacy consultant and author of several books about storytimes, shared a link on the ALSC listserv to a set of downloadable bookmarks to share with parents and other caregivers. The bookmarks have tips that cover the early literacy practices of talk, sing, read, and play. Developed by the Family Reading Partnership, the bookmarks are available here.