Outreach

Just finished outreach and told the teachers about ECRR. They all seemed interested especially when I would explain what a particular part of the storytime would help brain development. I also mentioned that workshops for teachers and parents were in the near future.

Great use of ECRR concepts!

I enjoyed reading about Amy and Donna's use of ECRR concepts at their storytimes last week. I was especially glad to see Amy's use of the nonfiction books. We are trying to use the nonfiction books more here at Newton and to encourage parents to check them out along with their easy picture book selections.

Donna - I like the use of the bilingual words next week for Cinco de Mayo. We have a number of very easy bilingual books that might be fun to use for the vocabulary concept.

Also - the duck prop box was really neat. I enjoyed seeing it at the meeting last week. It reminded me of when I attended community college in Denver, CO. The early childhood courses that I was taking focused on different learning areas for children, such as math, shapes, colors, letter recognition, etc. And we would make games to use in the classroom with our children. It was so much fun to make these things and then to use them with the children.

Keep up the good work and I will look forward to the postings next week to see what else you have done!

Donna - you and April may want to give out some of the brochures that Amy found. They are attractive and very informative.

Lynne

ECRR @ STST branch

Hi everyone,
This past Thursday @ the St. Stephens Branch library I implemented the ECRR program by introducing the "Duck" literary prop box I had created during the early literacy class I took @ CVCC. Our theme this week for ToddlerTime and Preschool Storytime was "Ducks". The prop box was focused around Lauren Thompson's, "Little Quack". I explained at the 1st of each storytime how we were going to start using the ERRC information in each storytime based on the six principals of early childhood literacy. At the end of the storytime, while the children were coloring I showed the parents some of the different activities in the prop box. This is a good time for teaching through casual conversation with parents and caregivers. Several parents were going to look up the ECRR program on the internet. Next week is Cinco de Mayo, I haven't quite figured out what early literacy skill I want to reinforce, I'm thinking maybe vocabulary. I plan to use both english and spanish with this storytime.
Donna :)

Yesterday during storytime, I pointed out to parents that I had placed ECRR brochures by the door for them to take with them. I also explained to them that we would talk about vocabulary because I was introducing a book that had words that might be unfamiliar to younger readers. This is where my props helped. I used a prop for the things that "Scaredy Squirrel" had in his first aid kit. I also brought non-fiction books with me because Squaredy Squirrel was afraid of tarantulas, poison ivy, sharks, germs, and green martians. I brought a book for all of those and explained to parents that even if nonfiction books had lengthy text, they were great for vocabulary building.

Also, last night I spoke at a parenting meeting at Sweetwater Elementary School. I promoted the library services, but I used it as an opportunity to talk about ECRR and the importance of early literacy skills to emergent readers. I took brochures and this seemed to go over well.

Amy

Yesterday during storytime, I pointed out to parents that I had placed ECRR brochures by the door for them to take with them. I also explained to them that we would talk about vocabulary because I was introducing a book that had words that might be unfamiliar to younger readers. This is where my props helped. I used a prop for the things that "Scaredy Squirrel" had in his first aid kit. I also brought non-fiction books with me because Squaredy Squirrel was afraid of tarantulas, poison ivy, sharks, germs, and green martians. I brought a book for all of those and explained to parents that even if nonfiction books had lengthy text, they were great for vocabulary building.

Also, last night I spoke at a parenting meeting at Sweetwater Elementary School. I promoted the library services, but I used it as an opportunity to talk about ECRR and the importance of early literacy skills to emergent readers. I took brochures and this seemed to go over well.

Le'ts help each other out!

To get the proverbial ball rolling, would each of you post something each time that you use an ECRR concept in your preschool story programs?

Nothing elaborate, just a short note telling everyone else what you did and why. This is a good way for Karen to know exactly how we are implementing these concepts.

Be sure and check this blog weekly so that you can keep up with the latest tips.

Many thanks,
Lynne

Donna's input

Mission Statement for ECRR program for the Catawba County Library System:

The Catawba County Library System is dedicated to help parents and caregivers of children from birth to five years with informative resources emphasizing the importance of early childhood literacy. Youth Service staff will implement the early childhood literacy program, “Every Child Ready to Read” resulting in a path for reading readiness and lifelong love of reading in the young children we serve.
Goals:
1) Youth Service staff will implement the Every Child Ready to Read program into our weekly story times, emphasizing the six skills to early childhood literacy.
2) Build collaborations with community organizations to teach ECRR workshops to parents and care givers of young children. (Parenting Network, Children’s Resource Center, NC Cooperative Extension and 4-H, Community Schools program, Sweethearts, Smart Start, Chamber of Commerce, Catawba County and Newton/Conover Schools, Parents as Educators program, CVCC, etc….)
3) Publicize what we are doing with ECRR program- Brochures, posters/flyers, web-site, family fairs, school events, power point presentations, news articles, etc….
4) Develop materials (literacy prop boxes) that enhance our teaching of the ECRR program.
5) Seek funding to help support the growth of the ECRR program in the Catawba County Library System. (Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Smart Start, Gates Foundation, etc…)We will need to have some record of accountability to support our asking for funding) Develop survey?

Some ideas that we can do to implement the ECRR program:
1. Observe each other’s story times to see how we are using the tools we learned in the workshop
2. Meet or communicate regularly base to see how the program is or isn’t working for us and to make sure we are all using the program in a consistant manner.
3. Develop 4 to 5 literacy prop boxes to use in story times and workshops based on classic books like “The Hungry Caterpillar”
4. Develop 3 to 4 story times with books, finger plays, songs, and activities that can be shared between branches as a fall back or in early use of the program
5. Present power point programs out in the community to let them know about the ECRR.
6. Research other libraries on the internet and see what they are doing with ECRR
7. Set goals to see where we want to go with the program after being used for 6 to 12 months.
8. Make sure we all have a clear understanding of the program (reading the book, reviewing the workshop materials, practice the readymade dialog and materials, and workshop already put together in the program. Robin may have order some of these materials and we can get them off the internet)
9. Teach workshops to care givers and parents
10. Give out brochures, handouts, and other information to parents at the end of each story time and outreach.
11. A Youth Service staff person serves on a board of one of our partnering agencies.

Congratulations to the Youth Services Staff

Congratulations to all of you for your great ideas today! Don't forget to email Amy with your ideas for a mission and goals for the ECRR program in the Catawba County Library System. Focus on setting achievable goals to guide you in your work.

I am very excited that we are going to improve our story programs and our work with the parents and teachers of preschool children in Catawba County. The case for building early learning skills in preschool children grows stronger each year as emerging research supports the understanding of brain development in young children.

Here is a link to a web page sponsored by the Multnomah County Library that discusses early brain development and early literacy skills. It is a short article, but packed with excellent information.

http://www.multcolib.org/birthtosix/braindev.html

Good luck with this new project. Our library has a great team of staff working together and I am confident that you will achieve great things!

Lynne Bolick Reed
Library Services Coordinator

Hi Gang! Just to let you know, we are up and running. I enjoyed the meeting and am glad we were able to meet about ECRR. This is going to be a great program and I will let you know when we have updates just as I hope you will all do the same.