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Babies bond with books at library
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Canfield resident Michelle Gamble (left) and her daughter, Sophia (right), went to the Poland library's Bonding with Babies and Books program to encourage Sophia's language and literacy skills.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Madeline Dunchak (right) gave Peyton McCune (front), from Canfield, a bean bag to play with during the music portion of the program. The bean bags were meant to keep the children's interest throughout a less active part of the day.
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Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Avani Simons (shown), from Austintown, plays with her mother, Lauren, during play time at the Austintown library's Bonding with Babies and Books program.
By ALISA MANNA
The Austintown library hosted its weekly Bonding with Babies and Books program on Oct. 2 when Children’s Librarian Madeline Dunchak used the story time to help parents and caregivers teach their children language enrichment through rhymes, songs and stories.
“We do everything twice to help them prepare to read,” Dunchak said. “Repetition is key.”
The theme for the story time was transportation, so Dunchak picked stories and songs involving automobiles. She read “Little Red Car” and “Auto Auto,” short stories that included finger play for the kids to act out.
“It’s word association,” the librarian said. “They learn to associate ‘beep, beep’ and the steering motion with the cars.”
She even used train magnets as illustrations to tell some of the short stories.
Dunchak also read “Freight Train” by Donald Crews and “The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!” by Mo Williams to fit in with the theme.
“Everything has to be short because of their attention span,” she said. “It’s easy to lose them.”
Dunchak said each librarian has to pick at least two nursery rhymes for every program. There were many to choose from, but she wanted some the children would recognize. For Tuesday’s program, she read “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Pat-a-cake.”
“Nursery rhymes are fun to sing and say with your children,” Dunchak said. “They also help children develop phonological awareness.”
Dunchak likes to include music in her programs. She said it’s important because babies love the sound of their mothers’ voice. She gave the children little bean bags to keep them occupied while the music was playing.
One great thing about every program is that the librarians pass out a paper with all the activities on it. The parents can follow along during their time at the library but then continue working with the children while at home.
“The story time programs aren’t just for mothers,” Dunchak said. “You see a lot of grandparents and caregivers, too.”
Austintown residents Joanna Onora and Pam Miner brought their grandchildren to the library for the social interaction at the program and to take books home.
“I really like the socialization and structured environment,” Onora said. “It’s good to get my granddaughter out of the house for a bit.”