Play & Learn at Woodlawn Lake Park Island House

Little Read Wagon will have Play & Learn 9:30-11:00 AM on Tuesdays, February 14, 21, and 28 at Woodlawn Lake Park Island House. Just look for the cozy stone building next to the big pavilion and playground.

Gel Writing Board Tutorial

Looking for a fun and easy way to help keep your little one's fingers busy this summer? Try this cheap and easy gel writing board: perfect for the car ride, waiting at the doctor's office, or just for when you feel like challenging your child to a game of tic-tac-toe. This gel board is made with items you might already have in your home. So look over the supplies list, raid your bathroom and junk drawer and follow our step-by-step instructions to make your very own gel board. Warning: you may want to make more than one, parents and older siblings tend to like to play with this writing board just as much as the littles.

Gel writing board tutorial

View more documents from San Antonio Public Library Little Read Wagon

For more information about how this simple home-made tool can help your child get ready to read, visit the "Writing" tab of our resource guide.

Getting ready to read by talking

This past week at Play & Learn we focused on talking as a strategy for building pre-reading skills. Although we talk with our children every day, sometimes the value of simply making time for conversation can get lost in the busyness of daily activity. One of our participants commented, "It is important to speak to your child and wait for their personal response. You should also include your child in things that allow them to communicate and problem solve with their peers."

You can learn more about talking as an action that builds pre-reading skills by visiting our early literacy resource guide and by joining us at Play & Learn. Our strategy for the week of January 9 is singing!

A New Year of Play & Learn!

In January we will start three new Play & Learn programs! Two of them will be offered on weekday mornings, as usual. The third program will be offered one evening per month, as suggested by some of our summertime Play & Learn participants. Go here to get the complete listing of all the Play & Learn programs we currently have scheduled.

If you have not attended a library Play & Learn session before, you might find the information on our Play & Learn page helpful. We look forward to seeing you in 2012!

Do you hear what I hear?

This week at Play & Learn we are all about sounds: making lots of noise and listening to what is going on around us. Phonological awareness is one of the pre-reading skills children develop from birth. We are preparing our children to eventually decode written words when we sing, bang on pots and pans, play with the sounds of language, and draw attention to all the noises in our environment. Does that sound like a lot of fun? We hope it is!

Next Play & Learn Series: Great Northwest Library

Are you looking for a fun way to prepare your child for success in reading, school and life? Our next Play and Learn series will be at the Great Northwest Library and we are offering two sessions per week! Choose the one that is most convenient for you: Thursdays, 3:00-4:30 p.m. or Fridays, 10:00-11:30 a.m. beginning October 7th and 8th. We will meet for stories, songs and fun learning activities. A different pre-reading skill will be introduced each week. This program is most appropriate for adults and their children (or grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors and friends) ages 5 and younger.

July Workshop for Early Childhood Professionals

Residents of Bexar County who work directly with young children (birth-five years) and want to learn about how to help young children develop early literacy skills are invited to register for the "Six Skills Summer Refresher." Registration for the July workshop begins at 6:00 a.m. on July 7.

Please read the workshop flyer carefully for more important details about registration, the training time and location.

Six Skills Summer Refresher

Residents of Bexar County who work directly with young children (birth-five years) and want to learn about how to help young children develop early literacy skills are invited to register for the "Six Skills Summer Refresher." Registration for the June workshop is now closed. Please check back for information about July's workshop.

Please read the workshop flyer carefully for more important details such as the training date, time and location.

E.L.S.I.E.

Many of us plan our storytimes around themes, but there also are a growing number of us planning around skills. The Hennepin County Public Library has a fantastic resource for identifying books related to specific pre-reading skills. Babette Reeves blogged about it earlier today, and it is definitely worth checking out!

Early Literacy Workshop for Teachers

The San Antonio Public Library's Little Read Wagon early literacy trainings (for those who work with children five and younger) are fun and FREE! Please print and share the attached flyer with all early childhood caregivers/teachers. This flyer gives the details for our next child care provider training, which will be held on Saturday, July 25th.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please don't hesitate to call if you have questions.

March Teacher Workshop

Registration for the March teacher's workshop is Monday, March 16. A printable flyer is available here.

Please call and leave a message with your full name, work location, age of children in your class, and a phone number. We will return your call to confirm registration.

Remember, if you register but do not attend the workshop AND do not inform Little Read Wagon of your change in plans, you will have to wait 12 months before registering again!

New Books and Pre-reading Skills

There are six pre-reading skills every child needs. How do we help children develop these skills? One way is by sharing books with them, of course! Here is a new skill-specific book list to provide some inspiration.

The terminology used in Every Child Ready to Read is directed towards adults and includes lots of BIG words like "phonological." A recent article in the Calgary Herald listed the pre-reading skills in the more personal, child-focused terms of the Calgary Public Library's Growing Readers For Life program: I Like Books, I See Words, I Hear Words, I Know Letters, I Know Words and I Can Tell A Story.

Quotes from Evaluations

Participants in last Saturday's workshop were asked to write down one thing that they had learned. Here are some of the things they had to say:

"Today I learned the importance of reading and what I can do to get my children ready to read...I also learned about the importance of singing songs/rhyming and storytelling."

"I learned how to search on the library computer because I'm not familiar with it. Also, I learned new songs that I will be using with the children...Also the importance of referrals with ECI. Thank you."

"Today I learned how much information the library has to offer, because I did not know that this was here for the taking. Thank you."

"Today I learned that talking, singing, fingerplaying help a lot for reading skills. Now I can spend more time helping my two children... he can look at the pictures and ... my baby can look at the bright colors and feel the different textures."

"Good information on Early Childhood Intervention. Helpful info. on on-line resources."

"Exploring the library website is extensive. There is a lot of info. I had no idea!"

"I learned that there is a wealth of information on line for library needs, and you can find and reserve books, videos, etc. using the computer (if you have a library card!)."

First Teacher Workshop of 2009 is Done!

The Little Read Wagon has completed it's first teacher workshop of the new year! This year Little Read Wagon is focusing on phonological awareness, or the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. The January 24 workshop was held at the beautiful Igo Branch Library. In addition to the early childhood professionals, special guests were Adam Spana (SAPL Digital Services), Rose Obregon (Brighton School), Molly McCormick (Easter Seals) and Ramona Lucius (SAPL Office of Outreach).

Participants enjoyed presentations and created a variety of items to use in the classroom. Jingle bracelets, sand blocks, rhythm sticks, song books, and felt puppies were created, embellished and taken away. Each participant also received a certificate for 5 clock hours and a bag of children's books.

Registration for the next workshop opens on Monday, February 9, 2009. Remember to call early and leave a detailed message including your name, center/school name and a phone number. Your call will be returned to confirm your registration.

February Teacher Workshop

This year in our free early literacy workshops (for those who work with children five and younger), we will explore phonological awareness, Early Childhood Intervention and library resources.

Registration for the February teacher's workshop opens on Monday, February 9. A printable flyer is available here.

Every Child Ready to Read

The San Antonio Public Library's Little Read Wagon has an exciting early literacy program series designed to help get “Every Child Ready To Read®.” Current research shows that children who learn six critical pre-reading skills before they start kindergarten become better readers. Children who do not know these skills when they come to school have a much more difficult time learning to read. Little Read Wagon offers these programs at schools and other organizations that serve parents or informal caregivers. Teachers are encouraged to attend one of our Saturday workshops designed especially for them.

The “Every Child Ready To Read” program, developed by the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children, explains why the six pre-reading skills are so important, demonstrates how to help children learn the skills, provides titles of high-interest books that are age appropriate, and sends parents/caregivers home with early literacy activities to incorporate into daily routines. Contact Little Read Wagon to schedule a program.

The next time you are at the library, be sure to pick up one of the “Every Child Ready To Read®” parent guides and ask a librarian to help you find just the right books to help your child get ready to read.