Resources For Parents

Navigating parenthood is a tricky path--one I've begun to learn firsthand.  Fortunately, there are so many resources out there that help to make parenting a little less stressful! We want to share some of these great resources with you!

We do want to give credit to ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) for compiling the majority of the following list!

Bremen Public Library "Parenting Collection"

This collection is part of our adult nonfiction section that we have recently relocated to the Children's Department.  We thought this might be easier for parents who come in with little ones and may find it difficult to traipse through both upstairs and downstairs in the library.  These books have tips on parenting, potty training, play time, and more!

Zero to Three

This site of for parents with babies from birth to age three.  Here you can find practical information for early childhood.  You'll hear from health professionals who work with children as well as caregivers.  There are resources and information on potty training, early literacy, developing self-esteem, and preparing for parenthood, and their message is evident--there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to raising children!

The Right Stuff listserv

This is a free monthly listserv that offers resources for supporting the learning and development of children who are culturally, linguistically, and individually diverse.  Past issues can be accessed at this website, and all resources may be freely shared!

Scary Mommy Blog

The Scary Mommy blog started with Jill Smokler as she chronicled her stay-at-home days with her children.  Many moms locked on to her message, able to relate to many of the situations Smokler was describing, breaking the myth that parenting has to be perfect.  The site is now run by the Some Spider media company, however the message of this site is still the same--let's stand together and share our stories!

Read-a-Rama

This is a literacy program for children ages 4-11 and their families that get kids excited about reading by encouraging books and activities together.  This program runs a forty-hour week-long summer camp, but also partners with churches, libraries, homeless shelters and more for year-round programming!

Vroom

Vroom is a free subscription services offering videos and developmental tips sent to your phone daily! This is offered in English and Spanish.

Tumblebooks

Teach your children the joy of reading! With Tumblebooks, you can access over 1,000 picture book titles through your library.  We love Tumblebooks, because the app reads the story and highlights the words that are spoken, encouraging children to identify words and sounds as they hear their favorite stories.  Just download the app on any device, log in with your library card number, and pick your favorite books!

• Apple Devices
• Android Devices

And as always, please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help!

S.T.E.A.M. Kids!

Next week, we begin our new program incorporating S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) for anyone in K-Grade 5! 

Each month, kids will be able to create and challenge one another with different projects.  We will read a book together to talk about our S.T.E.A.M. topic for the month, and then work on an activity related to that topic.

Our first topic is force! What is force? What is mass and acceleration? Together we will enjoy a book that touches on this topic, but we will be working to experiment with our own force!

We will each make our own catapult and experiment with the force behind it to launch marshmallows at our target.

At the end of our program, we will have another surprise activity to display force!

Interested in what this week will look like? Miss Kelsey and Miss Violet made a preview!

Every Child Ready to Read: A Beginner's Guide

"Every Child Ready to Read" (ECRR) is not a new concept, but the term may be new to some parents, and we'd like to talk about it now, and how it will be implemented in our 2019 storytimes!

First of all, let's give credit where credit is due.  Check out the official website to get all the information you will ever need to know!

Every Child Ready to Read is a research-based approach to early literacy for children, focusing on the public libraries working with primary adults.  Storytime is, of course, for our children--to get them excited to read and to get them involved in storytelling.  But as more research has been done, and new practices come out, the shift is focusing on great literacy tips to share with parents and caregivers! We want to empower you with tools and tips to use at home!

I love this quote from the About Us page on the ECRR website:

"The Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) concluded that public libraries could have an even greater impact on early literacy through an approach that focused on educating parents and caregivers.  If the primary adults in a child's life can learn more about the importance of early literacy and how to nurture pre-reading skills at home, the effect of library efforts can be multiplied many times."

There are five main components to ECRR that we will be hitting in storytime--

READ

WRITE

TALK

SING

PLAY

All of these, likely, happen naturally in your home and in storytime.  We want to continue to give you new ideas and tips to encourage these practices in your home.  Because of this, we have changed storytimes at the Bremen Public Library that will begin on Wednesday, January 16 and Thursday, January 17, 2019.

We hope you are all interested in trying this out with us! Have questions? Give us a call or email Children's Librarian, Kelsey McLane at kmclane@bremen.lib.in.us

And sign up for storytimes in person, via phone, or online!

Here are some great books that we have used in preparation!

  

Fish in the Sea

Another new song we have been learning in storytimes is called, "The Fish in the Sea."  This is a fun scarf song that is sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus."

View the song here if you'd like to practice at home! Don't have a scarf? Try a thin blanket--With my son, I use a muslin blanket we got from Target.  In a pinch, I've also used a thin pillow case!

Love fish and ocean books? Here are some of our favorite choices!

  

  

Fast and Slow Birds

Recently, we have been teaching the kids in both Wiggle Worms and Preschool Story Hour one of our favorite fingerplays called, "Two Little Blackbirds."  The kids have really picked up on both the words, the rhythm, and the motions.  We love this fingerplay because it incorporates fast and slow in a fun way--and it makes it easy for the kids to remember the words!

Check it out here and practice at home!

Need some bird books to read? Here are some of our favorites! More can be found (and placed on hold) here

   

  

What Do I Read Next?

It goes without saying that as a librarian, I LOVE to read.  I read whenever I can and whatever I can.  I try very hard to read new Children's material so I can best offer families titles that fit their needs and interests, but also introduce new titles, authors, and series. 

But there are some days we all just have no idea what to read next! You may have LOVED The Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Wings of Fire, but you've gone through the series multiple times.  What is out there that you can read that may be similar to these series, but something new?

We can help with that!  Bremen Public Library has just started a new service called, "Ask-a-Librarian."  When you fill in this form, your submission will be sent directly to the appropriate librarian, depending on age.  We will work hard to find a list of books you might like, depending on what you've communicated in your form.

The list will be emailed to you, and you will be able to place any of them on hold straight from the list!

Click here to check it out! Happy Reading!

I Know a Chicken! Storytime November 27-29

This week in story time, we had a lot of music and rhythm again.  As you get to know me better, you'll notice that I absolutely love having music as a huge part of story time, and I love trying out new things.

To get started, we learned a new song by the Laurie Berkner band called, "I Know a Chicken." You can check it out below:

This is an EGG-cellent egg shaker song--which is perfect, because our Wiggle Worms were able to make their very own egg shakers to take home with them.  Feel free to pull up this video for your family to all sing and shake along!

Our books this week included:

    

All of our kiddos received their very own DIY harmonica--if you weren't able to join us this week, please feel free to make one at home! Click here to get the instructions.

In Preschool Story Hour, we also read:

 

We also all made and decorated our own drums! Thanks for joining us this week, and make sure to check out these amazing books and activities in your free time.