43
Canfield library hosts young readers to story time
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Two-year-old Whitney Miller and her mom, Julie, of Canfield, enjoy making a dachshund craft at the Baby Brilliant story time at the Canfield Public Library April 20.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.McEwing reads to children ages 2-3 at the Baby Brilliant program story time at the Canfield Public Library April 20.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Librarian Hayley McEwing reads the book "Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting" at the Baby Brilliant program story time at the Canfield Public Library April 20 and encouraged the children to interact with the story to develop narrative skills.
By ABBY SLANKER
The Canfield Public Library is doing its part to put young children on the fast track to reading.
The library hosted a Baby Brilliant Tales and Talk story time for children 2-3 April 20. This early reading program can give children a head start on their reading and learning skills.
The library focuses on the six skills that can build a foundation for reading that every child should have before going to school. The six skills include vocabulary, print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge and phonological awareness.
The theme for the story time was “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs,” which focused on narrative skills. Hayley McEwing, librarian, children’s services, started the program with the opening rhyme and then played the song Cat Stretch from Animal Walks by Georgianna Stewart and encouraged the children to pretend to be a cat.
Music is incorporated into the program to help the children learn.
McEwing then read the book “Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting.” She had drawn the main character, Dog, on a board and handed out colored dots to each child. The children were then asked to participate by placing their colored dot on Dog as the color was introduced in the story.
McEwing then led the group of about 10 children in reciting “Hey Diddle Diddle.” During this activity, the children danced, pretended to play a fiddle, jumped, barked/laughed and ran in place. Putting actions to rhymes is a way to tell stories and develop narrative skills.
McEwing then read the book “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” and encouraged the children to sing along if they knew the words to the song.
To round out the story time, the children were invited make a craft, which is considered an extension activity of the day’s theme. The children could make and color an elongated dachshund to take home.
For more information on early literacy, McEwing recommended visiting the library’s Web site at libraryvisit.org or the American Library Association’s site at ala.org.
She also said library patrons may now become a fan of the library on Facebook. To find the page, visit libraryvisit.org and click on the Facebook icon on the right hand side of the page.
Patrons may post comments or share a library story and tell what their library means to them.