Blog

We are delighted to feature a blog post by Mary Ellen Braks, Youth Services Manager at Spokane County Library District, a member of the Early Learning Public Library Partnership.

I love talking about early learning and had an opportunity last night at a local Foundation of Early Learning event here in Spokane.  The event was sponsored by Drs. Tom and Barb Richardson of Spokane in support of the Foundation of Early Learning.  It was held at Lindaman’s Gourmet Bistro which has a relaxed and cozy atmosphere plus tasty food. 

The evening started with comments from Barb Richardson, a past Foundation for Early Learning board member, and Vaughnetta J. Barton, executive director. Being a children’s librarian I can’t resist sharing a book, so I started out my talk with Is Everyone Ready for Fun?  by Jan Thomas.  It’s great to read a children’s book to a group of adults and have them be as engaged in the book as the children would be.  I shared a few facts about brain development in young children and talked a bit about the importance of language development.  I was able to share with the group how we all can help get children ready for school through some early learning initiatives that focus on the parents and caregivers being a child’s first teacher.   Some of the brochures I shared with the group were “Ready to Learn, Ready to Read” from the Early Learning Public Library Partnership (ELPLP) and the Foundation, “Getting School Ready!®” from the Foundation, “Every Child Ready to Read” from the Public Library Association, and “Love, Talk, Play” from Thrive by Five.  In addition, I was able to talk about our early learning coalition here in Eastern Washington – The Inland Northwest Early Learning Alliance.

My passion for early learning comes out even more when I have a receptive and engaged audience such as the group I spoke to last night.  They even let me share with them a few more books at the end of my talk that I thought they might like to share with their children and grandchildren.   Two of the books I shared were Who’s in the Forest?  By Phillis Gershator and What About Bear? By Suzanne Bloom.  Thanks to Barb, Vaughnetta, and the wonderful audience for a lovely evening and for listening to me talk about my favorite topics, early learning and books.

We are delighted to feature a blog post by Gwendolyn Haley, Youth Services Manager at North Spokane Library, a member of the Early Learning Public Library Partnership.

Reading with your children opens up the world to them.  It’s a wonderful way to introduce new concepts and ideas—even math!  Stories can bring math to life and help children learn how to use math skills.  Just as children need to develop early literacy skills before they learn to read, they also need to build foundational skills before they begin to do math.     These include learning numbers, counting , the names of math functions, and how to represent mathematical ideas through pictures, graphs or diagrams.

This Plus That  by Amy Krouse Rosenthal,  introduces the concepts of adding and subtracting in a fun and fanciful  way.    This whimsical read-aloud uses math words like “plus” and “minus” in equations like: "wishes + frosting = birthday" or "birds + buds = spring.”  It all adds up to fun. 

Practice counting with How do you Count a Dozen Ducklings?  by In Seon Chae.  Hatching a dozen eggs leads to lots of counting!  Help Mama Duck count her chicks one by one as they hatch, and learn clever new ways to count to twelve—by  twos, threes, fours, and sixes!

Gathering data and presenting it in a chart or graph is a fun way to experience basic math skills.  In Tiger Math: Learning to Graph from a Baby Tiger by Ann Whitehead,  you can learn to graph while following the growth of T.J., an orphaned Siberian tiger cub who is hand-raised at the Denver Zoo.  Maybe you’ll be inspired to chart your own cub’s growth!

Ask your local librarian for more suggestions of counting books and other math related topics.  Also, you can take a look at Mother Goose Programs (http://www.mothergooseprograms.org)  to find more titles and math related activities to explore with your little ones.

Because of your donations and support, our 2012 Leadership Luncheon was a huge success!

Over 350 guests joined us at the Seattle Westin and helped us raise more than $173,000 to support the Foundation for Early Learning.

We thank our guest speaker, Megan Sukys, our guest interviewees,  all of you who were able to attend, and those who sent contributions supporting kindergarten-readiness for making our annual luncheon inspirational, emotional and memorable.
 
Thank you also to our wonderful volunteers!

For a complete list of our sponsors, please see the event page. If you were unable to attend and would like to make a gift to the Foundation for Early Learning, please visit our donate page.

We are delighted to feature a blog post by Chance Hunt, Director, Public Programming and Partnerships at The Seattle Public Library, a member of the Early Learning Public Library Partnership.

Librarians are often asked to choose a favorite—print books or e-books? In reality there is not a debate—both technologies have their advantages (no more lugging stacks of books through the airport!), and both tools can contribute to the healthy development of young children. But how many of you got new e-readers this past holiday season? And how many of you are also wondering if e-books are a good choice for your children?

In a recent New York Times article about e-readers and kids, Junko Yokota, a professor and director of the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books, offered that the size and shape of a book “become part of the emotional experience, the intellectual experience. There’s a lot you can’t standardize and stick into an electronic format.” From her research, one could suggest that the convenience of e-readers reduces the benefits of the overall reading experience for young children. Think about it. When you cuddle up to read a children’s picture book, there is much more going on than telling a story. You and your child turn pages; you and your child manage the shape and size of the book (we always preferred the little chubby board books in our house). It involves touching, tasting, and sometimes tearing the story printed in the book. Print book technology offers a child a multi-sensory experience, and this in turn builds their tiny muscles (and growing brains), especially when repeated multiple times (as in, every day). One more bonus: printed books, especially when strewn about the house, create a print-rich environment for your children.

So, the next time you read with your child or pick up dozens of books (as we often do in the library) know that you are building muscles—one book, and one story, at a time.

Contributed by Chance Hunt, The Seattle Public Library

Congratulations to everyone in Washington State that believes in early learning! Today Washington was named as one of the nine Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant winners! The Department of Early Learning and many throughout Washington worked to submit a competitive proposal that will more children, more families, and more communities.

Congratulations to our early learning partners. To read the US Department of Education’s announcement, visit:

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/we-cant-wait-nine-states-awarded-race-top-early-learning-challenge-grants-awards