Category Archives: Kids Korner

Review: Orphan Train Girl

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Orphan Train Girl
by Christina Baker Kline
4 stars

Molly has endured years of rejection in foster homes. She attempts to steal a paperback book from the library and is sentenced to 20 hours of community service. She ends up helping 91 year old Vivian clean out her attic full of memories from her past. Vivian was a poor Irish immigrant who was orphaned after a fire and sent off on one of the historic orphan trains to find someone to take her. Her story of overcoming neglect and abuse resonates with Molly. Through Vivian’s friendship, Molly makes great strides in learning to trust again.

This is an adapted version of an adult novel based on the research Kline did on the 250,000+ children who were sent out on the orphan trains from 1854-1929. Many of the horrifying details of the adult book are missing from this edition. This book would make a great Mother/Daughter read.  Recommended for grades 4-8.  AR Level: 4.5 Lexile 700

Read-alikes

Arcady’s Goal by Eugene Yelchin

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Sensory Play at the Library

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We piloted a new program earlier this year in May, all designed around sensory play experiences for toddlers. Sensory Play, or any sort of play tied to sensory experiences, is a natural part of development for children. Encouraging these experiences is a fun way to help children as they grow. Sensory Play can also be a bit of a pain to put together as a parent – the prep and cleanup are difficult to juggle alongside other tasks.

As our baby/toddler storytime librarian, I wanted to find a way to make these activities accessible and convenient. I also wanted to create a style of class that would work for children who find storytime overwhelming, or need to stay moving. Tiny Tot Adventures is a completely unstructured program. All of our materials are laid out, and children and their caregivers can drop into the program anytime during the scheduled 1-2 hours and spend as long as they like doing whatever they want. Most toddlers will spend 10-20 minutes in the space, which is a developmentally appropriate time.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about the different elements we have each week, as well as some ways you can bring these elements home.

Water Play

Water is a fun sensory activity that can be challenging to pull off in a library. Sometimes we’ll mix colors together, play with water beads, or thaw ice. Using items like droppers can work fine-motor skills. Scooping is another developmental milestone, and water play is a great way to practice it. At home, water play is easiest to tackle in the bath or outside during the summer. You can bring in washable watercolors, shaving cream, or colored ice cubes. Cleanup is easy – just drain everything out with the bath!

Sensory Bin

Sometimes our sensory bin is filled with water-play items, and other times it’s filled with beans, colored rice, straws, corn kernels… It’s fun to explore different sensations. Many of these can be done at home – rice is a cheap, fun material to play with. You can color it by dropping a bit of food coloring and a teaspoon of vinegar or rubbing alcohol into rice and mix it in a bowl or inside a plastic bag. The cleanup can be a challenge, especially if our little ones like to throw it. If you don’t feel like dealing with that mess, try taking it outside during a nice day. This is an easy one to keep stashed away, and you can play with colored rice over and over.

Coloring Table

Coloring is a great way to practice early writing skills. With toddlers, coloring often comes at the sacrifice of a table. At the library, we use easel paper stretched across the table. This is easy enough to take and try at home. If you have a spare table, you can leave the paper out. It keeps the tables clean, but it also gives toddlers a chance to draw, color, and scribble without any added pressure of staying inside lines or creating a masterpiece to be saved.

Bubble Wrap

We bought a roll of bubble wrap, but you could always save some from an online purchase. Popping it can be both a gross and fine motor activity! Set it on the ground for stomping, or have your children pop it with their fingers. When you’re finished, you can recycle it with your plastic bags in any plastic film recycling can (usually found at your local grocery store by the exit).

Activities

We also provide several activities that ask children to sort by color, sort by size, or do small counting activities. These aren’t always sensory-related, as it’s more of a chance to practice these skills. But they’re easy to bring into the playtime you already have. When playing with Legos, take a minute or two to run through colors. If your child isn’t talking, then make observations. “Thank you for handing me the yellow block,” or “Look, you put two green blocks together! They match!” Patterns, colors, and numbers can easily be incorporated into constructive play. Not everything has to be a quiz, though. During imaginative play, quizzing for colors, sizes, and quantity is ideally left out.

It’s easy to incorporate sensory play into your daily routine – your toddler is already exploring the world through senses, so it can be as simple as encouraging experiences that stretch them. Whatever you do, take time to have fun and interact one-on-one. Play doesn’t have to be a series of teachable moments.

Avoid the Summer Slide

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It is time for summer break again! Hurrah! Everyone can agree that the teachers and students in Greenwood have earned a well-deserved rest. In the age of standardized testing, studying can be stressful and grueling work. Everyone needs a chance to recharge their batteries. However, studies have shown that many kids lose the progress that they have gained over the school year during summer vacation. So how do you give kids a break while keeping them from falling behind?

These studies show that the students that fall behind typically were not engaged in any learning activities during the summer. They need to work their brains just like athletes need to work their bodies to stay in shape. Summer is a great time for kids to spend studying their personal interests and hobbies. It is important that they get a break from their routine at school, but they should still be reading and exploring.

I come from a family of six kids, and we learned to be creative about finding fun things to do in the summer. Finding enrichment activities does not have to be expensive, and you do not need to rely on workbooks or computer programs. You do need to be on the lookout for fun, low-cost, or free programs for your kids that are offered throughout the community. Here are some of my favorite ideas for Greenwood residents:

  1. Sign up for summer reading! Talk to your children about their reading goals for the summer, and help them set a goal for a realistic number of hours to reach this summer. We will reward them for their progress. I would encourage you to let your children read whatever they want for the summer, but you can help encourage them to choose books that aren’t at a reading level so low that it will bore them or so high that it with discourage them. Talk to us librarians if you need some ideas.
  2. Go to library programs. They are free, and in addition to being a great time, they will help your child develop their fine motor skills.
  3. Visit the area parks. You can borrow an Indiana State Parks pass for free for a week. Or you can explore some of the Greenwood city parks.
  4. Vacation not in the cards this year? Spend each week “exploring” a different country. Check out library books and DVDs focused around that one country for the week. Create meals and crafts together as a family to learn more about this country’s culture. You can also do this with different time periods in history.
  5. Play a board game. Even if a board game doesn’t appear to be “educational,” it can teach important social skills, such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others. The library has some board games that can be checked out.
  6. Look for museum free and discount days. The library has an Eiteljorg Museum and an Indiana State Museum pass that can be checked out. The Children’s Museum  of Indianapolis offers $5 nights from 4-8pm the first Thursday every month. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is free the first Thursday of every month from 4-9pm. Kids Commons in Columbus offers Free Family Time on June 4, July 2, and August 6 from 1-5pm. If your family qualifies for the Access Pass, you can receive $2 admission at most area museums.
  7. Look up craft project ideas in library books or online.
  8. Visit the hardware store. Home Depot will occasionally offer free workshops for kids.
  9. Check out one of GPL’s science kits to play with at home.
  10. Visit Appleworks, the Johnson County Fair, or go to the Greenwood Farmers Market. Talk to the farmers about how they grow their food.

Have a great summer! I hope to see you at the library!

Kindergarten Readiness

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Nowadays kindergarten readiness has developed into a big issue. With the state increasing kindergarten to a full day program, they have also changed the curriculum to align with what used to be many of the first grade goals. The saying is, “Kindergarten is the new first grade.”

With that in mind parents are scrambling to enroll their children in quality preschools that will help prepare them for a successful kindergarten experience. Kindergarten teachers encourage social and emotional skills as having the highest priority. Studies show that a child’s score on these skills in kindergarten predict later success in life. See study: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/selstudy/#

Here is a list of emotional/social developmental milestones for 4-5 year olds from : http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/social-emotional-preschool-milestones

Between the ages of 4-5 years, your child will:

  • Show some awareness of moral reasoning, such as “fairness,” and good or bad behavior
  • Develop friendships
  • Express more awareness of other people’s feelings
  • Enjoy imaginative play with other children, such as dress up or house
  • Get better at sharing and taking turns with other children
  • Enjoy playing games, but might change the rules as he goes
  • Stick with a difficult task for longer period (controlling frustration or anger better)
  • Show an understanding of right and wrong
  • Listen while others are speaking
  • Play games with simple rules

Red Flags for Social-Emotional Development (5 years)

If you notice some of the following things by the time your child is 5 years old, you may want to ask for help from your doctor or from another health professional such as a mental health clinician, a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a psychologist.

  • He is not interested in playing with other children
  • She is not able to share or take turns with other children
  • She wants to be dependent on her caregivers for everything
  • He is extremely “rigid” about routines and becomes extremely upset when things are changed
  • She has extreme difficulty separating from you
  • He is too passive or fearful and does not want to try things other children his age are doing
  • She has extreme fears that interfere with daily activities

GPL will again host a program especially designed for children and parents who are enrolling in kindergarten this year. Ready, Set, Kindergarten is scheduled for Thursday May 4th 6-7:30 pm. Greenwood kindergarten teachers and administrators will be there to answer your questions along with lots of interactive stations. The most surprising things we learned last year was that children need to learn how to open their milk or juice cartons, balance a food tray, eat lunch in the 20 minute time frame, put their coats and shoes on independently, and be able to endure a full school day without a nap. To register: https://tinyurl.com/k8hwldx

We have developed our preschool story time classes to focus on fine motor development, phonemic awareness, and letter recognition along with having lots of fun with books. Our summer sessions fill up quickly so remember that registration opens May 15th @ 9am.

Online resource check list for kindergarten readiness:

http://www.getreadytoread.org/transition-kindergarten-toolkit/establishing-readiness/kindergarten-readiness-indicators-checklist

Benefits of Storytime for Babies and Toddlers

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Hi! I’m Katherine, the Children’s Librarian who leads all of the storytimes for our birth-35 months age range. We have several storytimes available – Tuesday evening’s Bedtime Stories, as well as Wednesday and Thursday’s Baby/Toddler Storytime and Terrific Two’s. One of the reasons I love leading these storytimes is because of the developmental changes that happen. It’s amazing to be able to watch these children grow in such a short amount of time. The sitters start to crawl, the crawlers start to walk, social skills improve, gross motor skills develop, their attention spans get longer, and they become more adventurous. It’s an exciting journey that I get a window into, and – to be completely frank – it’s adorable.

But why come to storytime? It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but what are children getting out of it? From birth through age two, most of the brain’s development is happening. While it continues to grow and change for years after, these are essential years for learning.

Historically, storytimes were originally meant to show children that reading itself can be fun and engaging. But reading – while still essential – isn’t the main goal of storytime for this age range. We work on the many other skills babies and toddlers need as they grow and develop. And for each age range, there are different elements of storytime that have been fine-tuned.

For our youngest babies, language is the focus. Toddlers are learning how to use language, but young babies are not speaking yet. They are, however, listening – to tone, rhythm, and inflection. Hearing speech in various forms will help them be fluent speakers once they’re ready. Studies have shown that the more words babies are exposed to, the better equipped they are for reading when they grow older. So, in storytime, if I start talking about chemical reactions when baking, or the chlorophyll in leaves, you’ll know why. Babies are also hard-wired to look at faces – even newborns less than an hour old will stare at face-like images longer than others patterns. Needless to say, we see plenty of faces at storytime.

For babies and toddlers who have begun controlling their movements, we have plenty of opportunities when we clap, stop, wave, and more. Storytime gives them a chance to practice gross motor movement, where they have an adult and their peers modeling. We often think of gross motor skills like walking, jumping, clapping, and stomping as being natural. But practice helps children refine their form and technique. When kids get the help they need, they are able to master these movements early on.

Once children begin talking, we again have a focus on language, specifically with music. We sing so much in storytime. Don’t worry – no singing ability required. For children, songs encourage the use of language as well as memorization. Repetition is a huge part of storytime – you’ll notice that we sing almost every song twice, and we sing the same songs each week. It may not sound fun for the adults in the room, but it’s incredibly rewarding to watch your child begin to take part and sing along because of that repetition.

For all ages, storytime is a great chance to just have fun and play. Kids get to interact with each other – they dance together for our songs, explore the storytime room, meet new friends… Play is sometimes underrated, but it’s how young children learn. It also gives them a positive relationship with the reading and library. Parents and caregivers also get to meet with each other. New moms are able to talk and get advice, families who are new to the area make new connections, and pre/post-storytime is prime time for socialization with other grown-ups.

Speaking of parents and caregivers, how can storytime help you?

  • At our storytimes we don’t just read, our librarians model how to read books to children. For example, we talk about the story, ask questions, and connect the illustrations to text. These are great skills to incorporate into your own routine.
  • You’ll also get a look at books are ideal for this age range. For example, you’ll see plenty of nonfiction picture books, or picture books with realistic situations. I also try to pick books with high-contrast images and plenty of white space, as these are easiest for babies and toddlers to focus on.
  • If you’re looking for more books to read, you can check out our displays or talk to one of us.
  • If you come regularly, you’ll learn the songs we sing and form a repertoire. Some of the adults who attend use these songs at bedtime, or while riding in the car. You can adapt them for your use.

If you want your children to be life-long readers – which will greatly help them once they’re older – creating a positive relationship with the library is one of the easiest ways to accomplish that goal. So, add us to your routine. Register for a storytime. Set a day for coming to the library – every week, or every other week, whatever works with your schedule. We’re happy to have you, and we’ll be here for every step of the way.