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Reading event offers literacy tips
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Dominic Fenton (left) and mother, Sarah (right) color together during activity time at the program held at the Boardman library on Aug. 1.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Natalie Williams (left) and Alicia Williams (right) from Boardman color during the Every Child Ready to Read program on Aug. 1. The program has several workshops for parents and caregivers to educate them on how to get their children prepared for school.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Natalie and Alicia Williams do a picture book walk with their mother. To keep reading interesting, Children's Librarian Starr Jones also encourages drawing, writing and playing with children, in addition to the picture walks, for hand-eye coordination and motor skills..
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Starr Jones demonstrates a picture book walk using The Little Red Hen. During a picture walk, Instead of reading the book, Jones went through each page and asked the kids what they thought was happening. This encourages children to engage and talk about the book instead of just listening..
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Starr Jones uses puppets as a hands-on way to tell a story and get children interested in reading with Natalie Williams (left), Alicia Williams (middle) and Dominic Fenton (right).
By ALISA MANNA
The Boardman library hosted the “Every Child Ready to Read” program for parents and children ages 0-5 on Aug. 1. The program has several workshops for parents and caregivers to educate them on how to get their children prepared for school.
Children’s Librarian Starr Jones organized a PowerPoint presentation to teach the parents basic ways to help their child develop skills without pushing them.
“This program doesn’t teach the children how to read — it’s teaching them the skills to get them ready to read,” she said.
Developing early literacy practices — talking, singing, reading, writing and playing — is a natural way to encourage children to have fun while learning.
“Those are the main activities which are fun that hopefully parents and caregivers can do every day,” Jones said.
Jones distributed a packet to each parent with information on ways to share books with kids. The packet came with several book lists, including wordless books so kids can go through and create the story themselves. The bibliography also listed poetry, rhyme and movement books that come with puppets and props.
Jones taught the parents how to do a picture book walk with their kids by using “The Little Red Hen” by Byron Barton. Instead of reading the book, she went through each page and asked the kids what they thought was happening. “You ask them questions about the pictures,” she said. “You want to engage in conversation about the book.”
Jones suggested reading to kids 20 minutes a day, here and there. However, it’s important to adapt to the child’s attention span because it should be a positive experience instead of a long one.
To keep reading interesting, Jones also encourages drawing, writing and playing with children for hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
“Pretend play develops oral skills, and make-believe gives them a chance to act out of real life situations,” she said. “They then develop a sense of accomplishment when experiencing new things.”
Natalie Williams and her sister, Alicia, from Boardman, attended the workshop with their mother who said she’s trying to make their home a learning zone by instilling love for reading at a young age.
Jones suggests the same thing, and there are many ways to do so. One of which includes the Baby Brilliant To-Go Kits, which are for ages 0-5.
She also recommends visiting the library’s website for free books, songs, activities and other databases, like TumbleBookLibrary, which offers various interactive digital books.