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Every Child Ready to Read in Michigan - May 2017
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This Month's Wisdom...
Lately,
our country has been bombarded by upsetting news and chaos on an almost daily
basis. Children are hearing this, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation Study,
which states that “65% of today's children
live in homes where the TV is on half the time, and in 36% of homes, the TV is
on all the time. This study also points to research stating that TV in the
background has an impact on children because ‘the content is not designed for
them.'“
~ Sue McCleaf Nespeca
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By now,
many of you have received the download for the ECRR Toolkit for Serving Early
Childhood Educators, thanks to the Library of
Michigan, with funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. 102 public libraries requested and received the kit, and the Library of Michigan still has 8 available for public libraries on a first come, first serve basis. If you wish to obtain
a download to this product, write Cathy Lancaster at: lancasterc5@michigan.gov.
I realize some of you
may have already gone through it page-by-page, but for those of you who have
not had time to explore it yet, I would like to share a little information
about the kit. This was a product that came out of ALA’s ECRR Oversight
Committee that I chair, however I was not chair when the product was first
developed. Either way, I needed to write a review of it when it was published,
so I have had a chance to explore it in detail.
This is the second
toolkit that has been developed since the second edition of the Every Child
Ready to Read Project was released. The other toolkit was a product for those
working with Spanish-speaking communities.
This toolkit
is aimed at public library staff as a how-to manual to train early childhood
educators. Early childhood educators here include: licensed home child care
providers, child care center staff, Head Start teachers, preschool teachers,
and other child care professionals. This toolkit addresses what it means to
partner with and train early childhood educators. (ECE’s)
One of the
first things the authors caution users is to check if their state has a trainer
approval process and whether one needs to meet the standards for providing
early learning training, including any content or length requirements. ECE’s
will want any credit they can obtain and possibly need for licensing standards.
As with
the manual, a powerpoint presentation is included and it is editable. If the
entire presentation were done, it would be two hours in length (though again,
content can be adjusted according to the length of time you have.) It is recommended that you speak with the host or
organization head to get an idea of the level of knowledge and experience of
the participants. Often you will find there is quite a range. Because you will
include your own book and activity examples, the presentation should be
interesting to a novice, or even the most experienced educators. It is also a
good idea to provide opportunities for participants to share their own
experiences. The kit includes a group of videos showing child care providers
interacting with the children in their care, illustrating some of the points
being made.
The
powerpoint presentation includes complete notes for each slide so that you have
all the material you need to do the actual presentation. There is also an area
where you can add your own library information about resources and programs,
and a section on ice breakers. Most helpful is a link that takes you to each
state’s early learning standards for language and literacy.
Here are the links
for the state of Michigan:
Michigan
Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Infant and Toddler Programs (Revised
March 2013)
Birth to 3 years Early Childhood Standards of
Quality for Prekindergarten (2005)
Finally,
there is a section in the new ECRR Toolkit on assessments and evaluations so if you wish, you can do a pre-and
post-assessment.
I hope all of you who
received this download will be able to use this material in the future!
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It's a Dog's World!
I am not
really sure why all three recommended books below are about dogs, since I am a
cat lover, but here goes!
Raymond. Yann
& Gwendal Le Bec. Candlewick Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-7636-8950-6.
$16.99.
You know you are in for a treat when you
see Raymond on the cover walking on two legs (instead of four), carrying what
appears to be a cup of Starbucks coffee (the cup has his name on it) and a copy
of Dogue (Vogue) magazine under his front paw. And on the back cover, “Little
dog, big dreams.” Raymond has a very happy dog life with his family, but, one
day, while watching the family eat at the table, he gets the idea that he
should sit at the table also because that is what “families do together.” Each
day he becomes more and more like a human and even begins to walk on two feet.
As he watches his family heading out to work (and school) one day, he decides
he too needs a job, and gets hired by Dogue magazine as a reporter. Eventually
overworked and missing his family, he finally decides that his dog’s life was
not so bad after all!
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Poor Louie. Tony Facile. Candlewick, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-7636-5828-1. $16.99.
Louie, just like Raymond above, has
the perfect dog life, but, at the beginning of the book, we see that he was
attempting to run away from home. Why? Well, because they started to appear at
his house while his Mom entertained her friends. They turned out to be
babies who pulled on Louie’s ears and squeezed his tummy. Then, all of the sudden
things began to get weird at his house. His dinner was no longer on the table
with the rest of the family, but on the floor. On walks, he was no longer
protected from the rain, and bedtime wasn’t fun anymore either because his
parents were preoccupied coming up with names beginning with the letter “P.”
Mom’s belly started growing and wait a minute -- the family was buying TWO of
everything! Louie could handle one of those creatures, but certainly not two!
That was when Louie decided to run away from home. The twist at the end of the
story will be surprising for adults and children alike. Yes, this is a book to
recommend to a child who must adjust to a new sibling, but it is also just a
fun story even for those not expecting a new baby.
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Wolf in the Snow. Matthew Cordell. Feiwel & Friends, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-250-07636-6.
$17.99.
This is a
wordless book that you can “read”, yes “READ”, to children in preschool
storytime. It is very easy to tell the story through the expressive pictures,
and the only words are the sounds of wolves and the family dog. This is an
extremely touching story which begins long before the title page, and ends with
a comforting family scene that echoes the beginning of the book. A young girl
rescues a baby wolf that gets lost from its pack in a deep snow storm and
returns him/her to the wolf pack. When she can no longer can go any further in
the snow, the wolf pack returns the favor and howl so that the family dog and
family can find the young girl and rescue her. A tender, heart-warming story
that probably will make my “Mock Caldecott” list.
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Here
are some great websites to recommend to preschool teachers and other early
childhood educators. And, the great thing is, there are also ideas you can use!
1. Teach Preschool by Deborah Stewart - Sections include motor skills, sensory play,
and ideas for art activities, STEM and literacy activities including circle
time, flannelboard and storytelling suggestions.
2. Pre-Kinders by Karen Cox – Though you can find much on this site,
probably the most popular section is the incredible list of printables. For
example, you can print out nursery rhyme posters for a baby or toddler
storytime, or a “Wheels of the Bus” take home book. Literacy, math, science and
music printables are included. The “themes” section will be helpful for
planning storytimes, and there are tons of ideas under the “Learning
Activities” section including literacy, math, science, art and music ideas.
3. Hands On As We Grow - Though there are many curriculum areas at
this site, this is most useful for art and craft ideas. My favorite sections
are toddler activities, preschool activities and kid art projects.
4. DLTK Teach is a very rich site, but my
favorite section is their “Children’s Songs, Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes”
activities. Included are: the words/lyrics, free printable coloring pages, craft ideas,
puppets, felt board characters, word wall word worksheets, picture crossword puzzles and other activity sheets to go with the songs, rhymes and
stories!
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As I write this newsletter, the
news today is about 22 people that have been killed, (many children) in
Manchester, England after hearing a concert by Ariana Grande (a young artist very
popular with young children). Many young people are still missing or are
injured.
How do children deal with this
news of others, young like them, who have been killed while attending what
should have been a happy event, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many?
Lately,
our country has been bombarded by upsetting news and chaos on an almost daily
basis. Children are hearing this, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation Study,
which states that “65% of today's children
live in homes where the TV is on half the time, and in 36% of homes, the TV is
on all the time. This study also points to research stating that TV in the
background has an impact on children because ‘the content is not designed for
them.’ “
Some libraries and schools actually promote “Screen Free Week”
which is celebrated every year on May 1 – 7.
However, that one week does not answer what happens the other 51
weeks of the year. How do we help young children with the daily barrage of
disturbing news?
Here are two sites that have very useful information for parents:
Experts recommend that parents keep the news off around young
children and that they develop age-appropriate ways to talk to their children
about news they might hear. This site develops tips by age groups: 0-2; 3-5;
6-8; and 9-11. For each age group, subjects covered are: what that age group
understands about the news; signs of stress; media recommendations; and
communication strategies.
This site also mentions tips according to ages. For all kids,
they recommend that parents should consider their own reactions and take action
by helping those affected, or attending protests and rallies. For preschool
children, they recommend not to listen to news in front of the children. For children
ages 8 – 12, one should consider the child’s maturity and temperament; be
available for questions and conversations and talk about and filter news
coverage.
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