November is National Family Literacy Month and there's no better way to celebrate than by stopping by your local public library! There are plenty of ways you can begin to develop literacy skills with your baby, and it's a great way for families to bond, too.
Here at the library, we’re a fan of simply reading to your pre-reader - and science backs us up! According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, “90% of a child’s brain development” happens within the first 5 years of life, and reading to your child - starting at birth or earlier - helps build essential brain connections.
Of course, you could also bring your little one to listen to professional emergent literacy storytellers. I’m talking about free storytimes right here at your local library! We offer several storytimes each week, and we reinforce these essential early literacy skills:
- Talking: Even before they are able to contribute to a conversation, simply hearing others talk can help build vocabulary words and expose little ones to the rhythm of conversation.
- Singing: Singing isn’t just a fun way to communicate, but it can also be a great way to play with language! Slow words down or speed them up, use different pitches and vocalizations, and incorporate easy nursery rhymes with simple language to engage your little one. You can even throw in sign language or words from other languages!
- Reading: The best way to prepare a little one for reading is to read to them! Exposing children to books and reading to them is the best way to get them used to language and the process of reading a book. I even like to use wordless picture books and have preschoolers tell me the story they think is happening simply based on the pictures!
- Playing: Imaginative play is so important because it’s one of the primary ways children learn! From peek-a-boo to finger puppets to acting out movements, playing engages different parts of the brain to help make important literacy connections.
While we plan our storytime for specific ages, we welcome any age to come hang out with us!
- Tuesdays @ 11 - Preschool Storytime (ages 3-5)
- Wednesdays @ 11 - BabyBook (ages birth-1)
- Thursdays @ 11 - Toddler Time (ages 1-2)
Here are some reading recommendations for at-home literacy bonding:
Something's Wrong!: A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear by Jory John
Oh-no. Jeff the bear has definitely forgotten something.
He ate his breakfast, he watered his plant, he combed his fur…what could it be? Why does he feel so oddly off?? He asks his friend Anders the rabbit what could possibly be wrong. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that he's wearing underwear…over his fur...could it?
Something's Wrong! is another read-out-loud, laugh-out-loud picture book from bestselling and beloved author Jory John, about that horrible nagging feeling that it just might not be your day―but you know you have a friend to support you no matter what.
Press Here by Hervé Tullet
Press the yellow dot on the cover of this interactive children's book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising touch book instructs the reader to push the button, shake it up, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next!
Hot Dog by Doug Salati
This hot dog has had enough of summer in the city! Enough of sizzling sidewalks, enough of wailing sirens, enough of people's feet right in his face. When he plops down in the middle of a crosswalk, his owner endeavors to get him the breath of fresh air he needs. She hails a taxi, hops a train, and ferries out to the beach.
Here, a pup can run!
With fluid art and lyrical text that have the soothing effect of waves on sand, award-winning author Doug Salati shows us how to find calm and carry it back with us so we can appreciate the small joys in a day.
Open Very Carefully by Nick Bromley
What would you do if you were settling down for a quiet bedtime story and you realized that a crocodile had fallen into your storybook and was — not to put too fine a point on it — wreaking havoc? Would you slam that book shut and cram it back onto the bookshelf? Or would you be brave enough to peek?