Early Bit Lits
March,  2012Issue No . 23
KDL Blue
 
In This Issue
Explore the Mitten
Nursery Nook
Learning with Crafts
Book Review
KDLville Play Spaces

Explore the Mitten

Sunsets. Lakes. Wildlife. Lighthouses. Sand dunes. KDL is where you can explore what makes the Great Lakes state great! This family program will offer a roomful of fun activity stations including windmill and lighthouse crafts, a scavenger hunt, a Michigan teams tabletop game and much more. 

 

Check the online event calendar for dates and times.

Nursery Nook

If You're Happy and You Know It

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

If you're happy and you know it, then your face with surely show it.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

 

Other verses: Stomp your feet, nod your head.

Sing this song and do the motions. What other verses can you make up together? 
Greetings!

The Kent District Library is here to provide you and your child with the skills needed to succeed in school and in life. KDL's Early Lit Bits newsletter is full of FUN and simple activities that will help foster that growth.  For more information regarding the skills your child needs before he or she learns to read, visit the Play-Grow-Read section of the KDL website.  You can also stop by any KDL branch to speak with one of our helpful youth librarians. We hope to see you soon!

Learning with Crafts
Play-Grow-Read

You've got Mail!

Did you know that writing letters and words can help your child become a better reader? Reading and writing go together.  Both are ways to represent spoken words and communicate information. Children develop a better knowledge of the purpose of meaning of reading through the act of writing. One fun way to encourage children to practice reading and writing skills is to play post office.  Most young children love to give and receive mail. You can make a simple mailbox with an empty tissue box or a shoebox, or try making the paper bag mailbox below. If your child cannot write on their own yet, have them dictate a message to you and write it down for them.

 

Materials:

Small paper bags

Marking pens

Scissors

Strong tape

 

Instructions:

Cut the sides and front of the bag down about three inches from the top, but leave the back side of the bag at full height. Write the child's name on the front of the bag and decorate the bag with markers, stickers, or crayons. Use strong tape to hang the mailbox to the child's bedroom door, or make a loop with yarn and hang the mailbox over the doorknob.  Make a mailbox for everyone in your family so that you can exchange messages with each other.

Book Review

An Annoying ABC by Barbara Bottner

 

It was just one of those days in Miss Mabel's class.  The mayhem begins with Adelaide and continues through the alphabet to Zelda, with each child dealing with frustration in an irritating way.  The first letter of each student's name is highlighted in a bright color and represents a letter of the alphabet, making it easily identifiable as you read with your child.  Children will delight in spotting the naughty behavior going on in the illustrations; yet will find the resolution, an apology, to be a universal one.  Talk about what you and your child do when you're upset and the best way to deal with those feelings.  This is a wonderful book to share one-on-one, allowing your child to look closely at how the students' actions affect each other.  Although the text is simple, some phrases may be unfamiliar, such as "Flora fumed" and "Quentin quarreled."  Talk about the new words and their meanings together and sing the ABC's as you go through Miss Mabel's class list.  Talking and singing are both terrific ways to get your child ready to read!

An Annoying ABC 
KDLville Early Literacy Play Spaces

This past year, the Krause Memorial Branch opened a KDLville early literacy play space. Although Krause has for years offered a variety of activities for children to do in the library, our revamped play space now features a writing center, a puppet stage, a play kitchen, a dress-up area, and a wide variety of small hands-on activities that allow children to learn through play and develop language and social skills.  Kids have been especially fond of our train table, our doll house, our Lego play sets, our puppet stage stocked with Folkmanis puppets, and our dramatic play kitchen and diner.  At the writing center this past month, kids have been writing and "mailing" letters to Katie L., telling her what they love best about the library.  We are featuring these letters on our bulletin board!  It's a delight to see our play space so well-loved and used.  KDLville has been a huge success at Krause, and we love seeing many families coming here every week.  We are hoping that our space will continue to be an essential part of the lives of people in the Rockford community.   

 

Letters to Katie L  

letter lunch