By Jamie Holcomb, Denver Public Library When my older son started kindergarten, he had been in public preschool for two years–about the same length of time that I had been working as a librarian. Despite these enormous advantages, I still felt bewildered when he aged out of storytime. Library school had had nothing to say …
By SarahEllen Hickle, Family Place Librarian Singing may be one of the five core practices of Every Child Ready to Read 2.0, but not everyone may feel comfortable singing in front of a crowd. Of course, folks who don’t love their voice can often make the most impact on parents. If we as professionals are …
By Amanda Romero, Librarian, New Americans Project Ten percent of Coloradans, and 16% of Denver residents, are foreign-born (American Community Survey). Over one-third (36%) of Denver’s children are immigrants or have at least one immigrant parent (Kids Count Data Center). And 130,000 people in the Denver metro area, a full 37% of Denver’s immigrants, are …
By Jamie H. More wonderful picture books for readaloud come out every month, so many it’s hard to keep up–and that’s in addition to beloved works from decades past. Even so, limiting yourself to the picture book section when choosing storytime books or recommending titles to little customers would be a serious error. Include nonfiction: …
By Jamie H. Library professionals who work with young kids know all about getting ready to read. Recognizing shapes is a step toward recognizing letters! Play with the sounds of language! Finger paint with shaving cream for fine motor skills! Have fun! As a librarian with small kids at home, we dutifully did those things. …
By Laurieanne Armstrong and Lori Romero It’s hard to find anything much better and more fun than a library storytime visit in an early childhood classroom. Yep. We agree. And, in our quest for widespread reading readiness before kids get to kindergarten, the Arapahoe Libraries Child & Family Library Services department wondered if we could …
By Jamie H. There are so many fantastic picture books being published every year that it might seem like overkill to want to talk about finding readalouds (for storytime or just to send home with a customer) in other sections of the library. But having some go-to titles from the graphic novel section can shake …
By Katie O’Brian Craft programs can be intimidating. What if it gets messy? What if I run out of supplies? With process art, the goal is to forget the prepared supplies and embrace the mess! Open-ended exploration of materials and techniques gives children autonomy. A different skill set is used when children come up with …
