Fun with Math

I think ECRR2 is great.  I love focusing on what parents can do to help kids instead of giving them a list of skills, and I love that they added Fun with Science & Math to the workshops.  I still think the workshops are kind of – dare I say boring?  And Power-Point heavy?  Wouldn’t it be better to teach parents and kids to Talk, Sing, Read, Write, and Play together by – I don’t know, talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing together?

In the fall, I put together a Fun with Science workshop based on the ECRR2 model but all hands-on, with a table for each Early Lit skill. I haven’t posted the info here yet, but I will.  Someday.  Probably.  If you’re an ALSC member, you can read about it in the February 2014 issue of ALSC Matters.

In the meantime, here’s the lowdown on Fun with Math, which took place last weekend.  We had 70 people in our Auditorium talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing with math on a Saturday morning, which I think is pretty cool.

Want to know more?  Read on!

Spring Rain Storytime

How often do you choose a weather theme and have the weather totally not cooperate?  You plan a snow storytime and it’s 60 degrees out!  You plan a summer storytime and it’s cold and rainy!  Well, today the weather was perfect for our spring rain storytime.  The kids came in wearing their raincoats and boots and carrying their umbrellas, just in time to talk about rain!

We read rain books, created a rainstorm using shaving cream and liquid watercolor, made a thunderstorm with our bodies, and then painted using water and tissue paper.

Want to know more?  Read on!

 

Farm Storytime

This week we had a farm theme.  There are SOOO many good farm books it’s hard to choose.  I’ve even done a month or six weeks of farm, with a focus on a different animal each week.  But, this one was the generic.  For the many-th week in a row, I planned to play thematic music while the kids were crafting, and even got as far as loading the right play list onto my iPhone.  Sadly, I was thwarted by Apple, which changed the shape of the connector on the iPhone5 so it no longer hooks up to our Storytime CD player.  Drat you, Apple!  Even without the crafting music (and I have such a good farm songs playlist!) , it was big, it was loud, it was slightly chaotic, and it was fun.

Want to know more?  Read on!

Who Was King Tut?

I had my second Boys & Books program.  It was great!  I had 7 boys come with their parents, all prepared to discuss the book.  (I’d had 10 signed up, but 3 pulled out at the last minute because of sports tryouts.)  I don’t know if it was the topic, the 3-D Pyramids iPad app, or just the awesome cookies, but a good time was had by all.  We often end some of the regular school-year programming after April – by May, kids are involved in end-of-school activities, sports, etc. – but when I polled the families at the end of the program, they all wanted to have a May session.  So, hooray for boys and books!  (And now I need to choose another book.)

Update: I had a mom approach me the day after the program and want to know if we could continue not just through May but through the summer.  Her non-reader was really excited about the book and the activity and she wanted to keep it going.  Several of the moms were prepared to write letters to formally request the summer continuation if needed.  Of course, I said yes, but now I’m feeling super-pressured to choose something good next time!

Want to know more?  Read on!

Bedtime Storytime

I am headed to PLA this week, so I handed off my Thursday storytime to another staff member and took her Monday morning instead.  I knew some, but not all, of the kids.  Last year, Monday morning was our busiest storytime, but this year it has been a bit of an inconsistent crowd, varying in size, composition, and age range.  A few of the regulars I don’t usually see at storytime were confused to see me there, but we made it through just fine, with the exception of one screamy toddler.

Want to know more?  Read on!

Art Storytime

Someone posted to a library listserv earlier this week asking about favorite books to sing.  This week, I did three outreach storytimes in addition to my regular storytime, which, for me, means lots of singing – in this case, 3 singing books, a song, and one additional book.  This same program worked for a group of 4 kids, a group of 50 kids, and a group in which the youngest attendee was 10 months and the oldest was in third grade.  Hooray for singing!

Want to know more?  Read on!