Here is our first 2022 update for 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
Letter knowledge is the ability to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet, which in English includes all 26 uppercase and 26 lowercase letters. The Edvocate, an education blog focused on enhancing the quality of education, does an excellent job in this article explaining the role of letter recognition as a literacy skill. Unsurprisingly, without mastering this skill, children will struggle to learn letter sounds and words.
There are many activities that you can use to practice letter knowledge at home. Here are just a few suggestions:
- Letters are shapes. Talking about shapes and recognizing them in books and illustrations help children master visual matching, a skill that they will use when recognizing letters. You could try playing a matching game or reading a book about shapes and compare how certain shapes look the same or different.
- Alphabet books are always a great idea. Try using a few different alphabet books to help your child recognize letters in different formats.
- Play with letters. Blocks, magnets, and puzzles are a great way to become familiar with letters.
- When your child begins to recognize letters, look for them when you’re out in the world.
Book recommendations
Here are three great books to grow letter recognition skills!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom An alphabet classic - this book can be read or sung as the letters race up the coconut tree!
City Shapes is a fun adventure into environmental shapes as it follows a young girl walking through her city, recognizing the shapes all around her.
LMNO Pea-quel A fun alphabet book with large letters and funny peas. This book is perfect for practicing letter recognition with letter sounds, and is available as a board book as well. Don’t forget to hunt for the little ladybug on each page!
For caregivers: You may find, as you're teaching your child to read, that you need some resources as well! Here is a great book that includes the latest scientific research, practical tips for parents, and reading recommendations for families:
A Wall Street Journal writer's conversation-changing look at how reading aloud makes adults and children smarter, happier, healthier, more successful and more closely attached, even as technology pulls in the other direction.
Library updates
Join us for a free summer camp! The Library will offer 78 free camps this summer, with in-person and virtual options. Registration opens March 1 at noon at https://slpl.jumbula.com/
Join us each Monday for a virtual storytime or one of our many other programs! To check out what we’re offering next, this calendar provides all of the information needed to enjoy one of our programs.
Don’t miss out on our Take & Makes kits! Each month, we have a different craft or activity for both kids and tweens/teens.
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