More Great Books for Maine Kids

In This Issue

Shoot for 20 minutes of read aloud a day...and it doesn't have to be 20 minutes in a row! Five minutes four times a day counts, too.

Excerpt from 2012 Maine Early Literacy Calendar.

While You Wait...

Even a short wait can be a challenge with little ones. Try this fun activity to help fill the time and develop your child's brain power.

I Spy....Vocabulary!

Look around the room. See if your child can guess what you're looking at by offering clues, "I spy something blue!" Help your child find all the blue things you can by saying, "That's a good guess. It is blue but it's not the thing I was looking for. What else can you find?"

Try words that aren't color words like, shiny, smooth, rough, bumpy, etc. This game helps your child learn new words and categories of things. These are important skills!

Watch our Facebook page for more "pass the time" activities.

More Great Books for Maine Kids

NEWS FROM RAISING READERS FEBRUARY 2012

Raising Readers Presents...

Families will get to meet the authors and illustrators behind favorite children's picture books, when we launch the new event series, "Raising Readers Presents...", at the children's museums in Portland, Bangor and Augusta.

The series premieres at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine in Portland on March 2nd, at 6:00 and 7:00 PM. March 2nd is a First Friday, so admission to the Museum that evening will be only $1 per person.

Read about each event's featured books and their creators. Watch our website and our Facebook page for updates as we add more dates to the series schedule.

Books, Babies and Brains

Babies who have been read to learn more and are more likely to be successful in school. Reading with your baby is a lot of fun and you can help build your baby's brain at the same time.

Help Build Your Baby's Brain

Talking, reading and singing to your baby can help the brain become familiar with the sounds of language.

Looking at pictures in books and talking about them help children become familiar with how books work.

Reading and talking about what you read helps your child connect to you and the text you're reading. Both are important for later learning.

Join Us on Social Media
You can stay in touch with Raising Readers daily or weekly by joining us on Facebook or by following our blog. It's a great way to engage in conversation with us or with other families across Maine.

Let us know what you're thinking about reading with your kids. Or read parent reviews of favorite Raising Readers books. We hope to create a community of Maine families helping one another to raise a new generation of readers in Maine.