All posts by Children's Staff
Family Fun on Wednesday Nights at MacKay
Grab a blanket, pack some snacks, load up the children and head to the MacKay library on Wednesday evenings in the summer for some family fun. On Wednesday, July 23 Keith Munslow will be performing at 6:30pm outside on the lawn. (Rain location – Chelmsford Community Center, at the old North Chelmsford Town Hall.) Keith Munslow is an award winning performer who uses music, storytelling, visual art, and improvisation in his act. Attending concerts and performances is a wonderful way to include reading, writing, singing, playing and talking into your daily routine. These concepts are important in continuing to build the foundation for early and developing literacy skills in young children. In addition, listening and participating in a live performance is a fun way to spend time together on a summer evening!
Book for Baby Storytime, Friday, July 18
We had a spirited storytime today. We read this favorite book and all the babies seemed to be listening for the entire story!
Book at Toddler Storytime on Monday, July 14
We read the book Freight Train by Donald Crews. We made some train sounds and talked about the colors of the train. Click on the cover if you would like to request this book from the library.
This is a very simple story about a train, but the vocabulary is very sophisticated. I learned new names for parts of a train. ~Maureen
Dads and Donuts – July 12
We read these books together at Dads and Donuts. A fun time was had by all!
Baby Storytime – Friday, July 11
We read this story today during Baby Storytime.
Summer Reading Spots
Keeping a few favorite books in the car is a great idea year round to take to appointments, etc.
In the summer those books are available for picnics, visits to the park and trips to the beach.
Reading under a table, in a closet or lying on the floor are surprising places to suggest to children. Think of an unusual spot inside or outside to read for 15 minutes a day.
Book and rhymes at Toddler Storytime on Monday, July 7.
I read I Love Animals by Flora McDonnell, because 1 year olds love animals and the sounds the animals make. We stopped on every page to make the sound of that animal. We also stopped on the page with the sheep to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep. (lyrics below)
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full.
One for my master, one for my dame and one for the little *love who lives down the lane.
(I changed the word from boy to love to include both boys and girls. Please stick with any wording that you learned as a child, unless you want to change it.)
Storytime Music
Sharon does a lot of singing and dancing in her storytimes. You can sing and dance at home, too!
Summer Reading for preschoolers
Children do not need to read to be part of our summer reading program! Out of the 1100 children who signed up last year, only 131 were preschoolers. That means I haven’t done enough to encourage the youngest children to join.
Reading is an important skill that needs practice. Teachers know that children who do not read over the summer lose some of their skills. But reading to young children is also very important. It is the most important way to prepare your child to read.
If there are 2 children in the family, one who reads and one who doesn’t, and the reader reads to the other child, you can count the time spent reading and listening on both logs. Listening to audio books counts for all ages. And we want to encourage parents to read aloud to their children throughout the elementary school years (at least). All that listening counts. 🙂
TV Storytime on Chelmsford Telemedia
READING TIP: The children’s staff of the public library has created a Storytime TV show that can be seen 7 days a week on Chelmsford Telemedia. We read stories for a half hour. These picture books may be a bit longer than the ones we use in storytimes at the library, so even elementary school children may want to tune in. Speaking of schools, we often have the folks who work in the school libraries read picture books for us as well. Tune in any evening, but especially at times when we are not offering storytimes at the library.
The show is on the Educational Channels: Comcast 22 or Verizon 36.
There are times that live programming may be shown rather than the stories. Tune in again the next evening.