1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!

Remember, if you have not yet registered, there are two ways to participate in 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten:

• You can visit a Library location to receive a paper log. Staff will take your information and provide you with a booklet to keep track of all the books your child reads. 
• Or sign up on Beanstack to track books online, the Library’s online reading platform. Just create an account and log books as your child completes them. You can even download the Beanstack app to log books by scanning their barcode with your phone!

Literacy at Home
Early writing skills go hand-in-hand (or should I say pencil-in-hand?) with early reading skills. From your baby’s first scribbles to your child writing their name and beyond, your child’s writing development parallels their development as a reader. 

What does writing have to do with being a reader? When you read aloud with your child, they learn that written text has meaning and represents spoken language, whether it’s text in a book, on a sign, or on the box of their favorite snack. Early literacy specialists call this knowledge print awareness, and it’s a major component of early literacy. Children, of course, can create text, too – that’s writing!

There are many everyday things you and your child can do to support their growing writing skills:

• For babies and toddlers, look for opportunities to strengthen the muscles in their hands - grasping and handling anything from chunky crayons to squishy play dough are great for building those fine motor muscles.
• Use yogurt as an edible fingerpaint to draw squiggles, shapes, and letters.
• Have preschoolers help you write lists, greeting cards, or letters to loved ones – you can even write your own mini-books together!

For more information and a visual chart of your child’s emergent writing stages, check out this article by NAEYC, “Promoting Preschoolers’ Emergent Writing”.

Book Recommendations
Wiggles is an interactive, textured book that features paths, grooves, and other tactile inserts that guides a child’s fingers through different shapes and colors. Pointing and tracing exercises are ideal for developing fine motor muscles in your child’s hands and fingers.

Montessori Letter Work is the ultimate ABC book! Alphabet tiles encourage children to trace each letter with their fingers.

Fingertrail 123 is another great tactile book that invites children to use their fingers to follow groovy, bumpy trails as they count and trace numbers and shapes.

A Squiggly Story  "Every story starts with a single word and every word starts with a single letter. Why don't you start there, with a letter?" With a bit of encouragement and a big imagination, one boy writes the squiggliest story ever told.

The Day the Crayons Quit – the crayons have had it! Red is tired, Beige is bored, Black is misunderstood, and what ‘til you hear what Peach has to say! You might never look at a box of crayons the same way again!

For Caregivers
Have you checked out one of our five themed Lit Kit yet? Introduced in April, SLPL’s Lit Kits are designed for emerging readers and focus on developing literacy skills through reading, writing, talking, singing and playing. Each kit includes books, toys, and a guide that encourages caregivers and children to read, play and learn together! This themed kit comes with an alphabet tracing board, a perfect tool to support early writing and letter recognition skills.

Library Updates
It’s summer, so you know what that means! We are headlong into the STL Summer Adventure, our community summer reading and exploration program. For the first time, St. Louis Public Library and our neighbors St. Louis County Library have partnered to present a shared summer program. There are activities and ideas for readers of any age to participate, win prizes, and stay engaged all summer long. Visit any library branch or the STL Summer Adventure website for more information and to sign up.

There are also oodles of special programs to look forward to this summer, from kid-friendly live performances to outdoor storytimes to pop up play experiences. We’d love to see your whole family at the library!

Happy reading!