Early Learning Archives - Baton Rouge Family Fun

If you are or a parent or caregiver of a toddlers ages 2-4, you won’t want to miss out on East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Press Start! Ready, Set, Read! Program! The program seeks to equip children with early literacy skills that will enable them to enter school with confidence.

Press Start! Ready, Set, Read! Program!

Parents and caregivers may stop by the children’s room of any Library location to pick up a booklet that focuses on beginning literacy concepts that can be incorporated into their daily routines.

The booklets are full of fun activities that the children will enjoy while learning basic concepts that build a firm foundation for math and reading. Each monthly booklet will feature a new letter, number, color or concept, while also building on the previous month’s concepts. Children begin with booklet one, work their way through the program at their own pace, and earn rewards along the way.

Studies show that early literacy development strongly correlates to later school achievement. For this reason, EBRPL Children’s Services has developed the Press Start! program to ensure its youngest patrons get off to a good start and continue to reap the benefits once they reach school-age and beyond.

EBRPL’s Children’s Services Coordinator, Tara Dearing, commented, “Our Children’s departments at each library branch will also highlight these concepts through decorative displays, book displays, and programs each month. In fact, each month will be ‘brought to you’ by a new letter, color, or concept.”

When young patrons visit the Main Library at Goodwood, they may be excited to see a stuffed Mike the Tiger wearing a circular medallion with a number upon it and a rabbit proudly arrayed with the letter of the month.

Along with the easy activities you can do at home with your little one, reading aloud in itself has great benefits – be sure to pick up some books!

Benefits of using read-aloud:

One of the most important things adults can do in preparing children for success in reading is to read aloud with them.

Listeners build listening and comprehension skills through discussion during and after reading.
Listeners increase their vocabulary foundation by hearing words in context.
Listeners improve their memory and language skills as they hear a variety of writing styles and paraphrase their understanding.
Listeners develop individual interests in a broad variety of subjects and they develop imagination and creativity: what better way to build skills which foster inquiry?

Read to your child

Reading aloud to your children will not only give them a solid reading foundation, but it will also help them discover the joy of reading.

It’s never too early (or too late) to start reading aloud to your child. One thing we can do to kick-start the road to reading is simply to read to our children and read to them often. Discuss what you have read with your child and ask questions before, during and after your reading sessions. Create a reading nook in your home and commit to reading aloud at least once daily. Keep books readily available and take them with you when you go. Reading aloud can take place anytime, anywhere.

Make reading fun

There are many different activities that will help a child build a strong reading foundation. Mastering letters and matching lowercase letters with their sound is very helpful when a child is learning to read phonetically. Let your reader make letters out of Play-Doh, whipped topping, shaving cream, sprinkles or sand. If they are learning sight words, they can create beginning sight words with noodles or pipe cleaners.

Be the example

Monkey see, monkey do. The best example we can give to our child is to show them our love of reading. It’s one thing for us to tell a child they must read each day, it’s another for them to see us reading each day.

Enjoy the journey

There might be days when you feel as though your child will never learn to read — it can be a daunting task at times. Remind yourself that you are giving your child a gift that will truly last them a lifetime. Embrace the struggles with the lightbulb moments and enjoy making sweet memories along the way.

Press Start!

Stop by the Children’s Room of any library location to pick up your Press Start! booklet! The month of February is brought to you by the letters H, I, J & K; the numbers 7, 8, 9 & 10; and the weather concept, “rainy/wet.” Each month’s booklet introduces basic concepts with fun activities for ages 2-4 that you can fit into your daily routine and that help prepare your child for kindergarten.

As the school year begins, too many children are already falling behind. Baton Rouge Moms is 1 of 30 blogs helping #FindtheWords with Save the Children to raise awareness of the need for early childhood education for all kids. I am participating in this social media campaign to highlight 30 words in 30 days — to symbolize the 30 million fewer words that children from low-income homes hear by age 3.

Save the Children provides kids in need with access to books, essential learning support and a literacy-rich environment, setting them up for success in school and a brighter future. Learn more about Save the Children’s work in the US and around the world: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6153159/k.C8D5/USA.htm

The first years of life are crucial to a child’s life long growth and development. I have always said that a lifestyle of learning begins at birth. Brain research has proven that most of the brain’s actual physical growth occurs during the first two years of life. The advantage of love, a nurturing environment, stimulation, interactions and experiences with parents, family or a care giver are crucial in the early months of a child’s life. For toddlers, early learning includes learning through play, through conversation, read alouds, educational resources and child led learning.

But, in developing countries, or in poverty stricken areas across the US, ill-health, malnutrition, lack of parental education and other factors compromise the ability of children to achieve their full developmental potential, putting them at a huge disadvantage. Caregivers need help and support to create environments and experiences that stimulate children’s minds in all their daily activities — from infancy.

An early start on learning is everything. Yet too many children in America and around the world are falling behind. By age 3, children from low-income homes hear an average of 30 million fewer words than their peers, putting them at a disadvantage before they start school. – Save the Children

I remember how exciting it was to hear our toddlers say new words and string them together to form sentences. Conversation has always been an important part of our day, our little ones learned so much through verbal, hands on lessons. In turn, our children have become avid readers because they learned at an early age the love of words, vocabulary and books. Giving them a great advantage.

Understanding the stages of child development helps parents know what to expect and how to best support the child as she or he grows and develops. On my trip to Guatemala with Save the Children, I was able to see first hand how mothers were being supported, educated and given to the tools to give their own children the best start possible. Through Save the Children’s classes and resources, mothers learned about the many advantages a healthy start can make.

The world’s advantage will come from helping disadvantaged children.

Domestically, if all children had access to early childhood education, we would see a growth of $2 trillion to the annual gross domestic income within one generation!

Early childhood education is an advantage that every child should have access to. Every child should have the advantage to grow up in an environment in which they are enabled to reach their full potential in life.

We can help them do this, we can help them #FindtheWords

Paying it Forward: Enter to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card

Please help us #FindtheWords! Snap a picture when you see the word #Advantage out in the world and post it to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtags #FindtheWords and #Advantage.
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