[yscon] Questions

Fri Aug 11 05:45:16 PDT 2017

I don't know if I will be able to attend the call, as I will be facilitating a STEM and early literacy workshop with Saroj Ghoting - so happy we were able to bring her back to Kentucky! However, it is the last stop in our "road trip", so if I can, I will step away for an hour, as I would love to hear more about what everyone is doing.

In addition to wrapping up our librarian education pieces for the School Ready Libraries initiative, I too have been working on an exciting new collaboration with our state science center, in the form of mobile exhibits that are focused on STEM and early literacy. It truly is a perfect marriage, integrating a lot of the same practices of Every Child Ready to Read through the lends of scientific curiosity and exploration. We will be celebrating our first year of installations this December. More information about the program can be found at the KSC website: http://kysciencecenter.org/permanent-exhibits/science-in-play/science-in-play-2go/ 

Additionally, I have submitted a funding proposal for our next LSTA cycle to send a small cohort of libraries to Family Place Libraries Training. I have talked with a few of you who have been very generous in sharing your experiences. I was wondering if anyone else could speak more in depth to how the specifics of this training compare to what we have "always done" through Every Child Ready to Read. I think Family Place Libraries will be great for many of our smaller libraries, but I have received questions from a few larger libraries who are already steeped in this type of work and partnership culture.

Krista King-Oaks
Youth Services Consultant
Library Development Branch
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
300 Coffee Tree Road
Frankfort, KY  40601
(502) 564-1739
krista.king-oaks at ky.gov 
KDLA supports School Ready Libraries

Services provided by the Library Development Branch of KDLA are 
funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

-----Original Message-----
From: yscon [mailto:yscon-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Costley, Enid (LVA)
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 8:17 AM
To: yscon at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: Re: [yscon] Questions

I have been working with the National Summer Learning Association to transform our summer reading program to a summer reading/summer learning program.  

Here is my reasoning.
Summer reading programs are a core program that libraries provide to keep children occupied, learning, and safe and off the streets when schools are not in session.  Other agencies, such as parks and recreation departments, museums, religious organizations, and other profit and non-profit organizations, provide out of school learning opportunities and services to children and teens in the community.

When we put summer reading programs in this greater context of summer learning, it enables us to collaborate and partner with other like-minded organizations.  It also places summer reading in the context of promoting healthy communities.

I have been working with the California Libraries to develop an open source software program to track summer reading and award e-badges for summer learning activities.  

We are now in the process of using the same software for a school readiness project with lots of family engagement (1,000 books before kindergarten and 1,000 activities before kindergarten).  We have engaged Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen to write activities.  We also have engaged the Science Museum of Virginia and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to provide STEM related activities.

I will be showcasing the school readiness to library staff on September 13.  After that I would be happy set up a virtual meeting and provide link to a demo site where anyone may look at.   

Below is a write up I provided the Science Museum of Virginia STEM and School Readiness

Project
Working together, the Library of Virginia, Science Museum of Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation create seamless support for children and families to ensure children in Virginia are going to school with general knowledge in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). 

Goals 
•	Support development of executive function and “deeper learning” skills through literacy and STEM-based experiences.
•	Engage and support families as their children’s first teachers. 
•	Link new digital technologies to learning.

Definition of School Readiness
In order to fully benefit from the instruction provided in kindergarten, children must come to school with many fundamental skills already established. Years of research on child development and early learning show that several interrelated areas of development define school readiness:
	Physical well-being and motor development
	Personal and social development
	The child's approach to learning
	Language development
	Cognition and general knowledge
Taken from Virginia Performs - School Readiness http://vaperforms.virginia.gov/indicators/education/schoolReadiness.php 

Research
Pediatrics, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics has published several reports about reading.
From Literacy Promotions: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice a policy statement – Reading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships at a critical time in child development, which, in turn, builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that last a lifetime.
From Home Reading Environment and Brain Activation in Preschool Children Listening to Stories – In preschool children listening to stories, greater home reading exposure is positively associated with activation of brain areas supporting mental imagery and narrative comprehension, controlling for household income. These neural biomarkers may help inform eco-bio-developmental models of emergent literacy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in the technical report “School Readiness” also states – Pediatric providers can promote the 5 Rs of early childhood education by encouraging parents to read together daily as a favorite family activity that strengthens family relationships and builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that last a lifetime; rhyme, play, sing, talk, and cuddle with their young children throughout the day (children develop language skills, problem-solving ability, and relationships through play); create and sustain routines for children around sleep, meals, and play (children need to know what caregivers expect from them and what they can expect from those who care for them); provide frequent rewards for everyday successes, especially for effort toward worthwhile goals such as helping (praise from those the child loves and respects is among the most powerful of rewards); and remember that relationships that are nurturing and secure provide the foundation of healthy child development. 

Approach
1000 Books before Kindergarten is a national program that encourages parents to read to their child every day with the goal of reading 1000 books before a child enters school.  In our project we would add 1000 Activities before Kindergarten. The concept of adding 1000 activities is credited to Saroj Ghoting, early literacy consultant. The 1000 activities will be aligned with Virginia school readiness definition by using the following – Virginia’s Department of Social Services Milestones of Childhood Development, Head Start Framework, and Virginia Department of Education Foundation Blocks of Learning.  For STEM related activities, we will also be using the expertise of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Science Museum of Virginia. 

The format for the learning activities are:
What We Do:  A simple statement and provide or point to resources.
Why:  When we [activity].  This helps your child [skill] and will later help your child [to read/to learn].
Good things to Observe:  This is to show learning took place.

Example:
What To Do:  Play name games with your child.  Here are a few simple ones.

Hickety Pickety
Hickety, pickety, bumblebee, won't you say your name with me?
[child's name] said normal voice
[child's name] said softly
[child's name] mouthed without vocalizing Hickety, pickety, bumblebee, you said your name with me! 

Clapping Name
Let's clap your name...[child's name]...clap for each syllable of your child's name Let's slap your name...[child's name]...with palm lightly hit your leg for each syllable of your child's name Let's tap your name...[child's name]...with one finger lightly tap on a hard surface for each syllable of your child's name (you may see your child "tap" with whole hand) Now let's clap [another person in the family] Repeat with other in your family.  
Hint: An easy way to count syllables is to put your hand on your chin, say the word and count how many times your chin touches your hand. 
From: 5 ways to Count Syllables. (n.d.). In HowMaySyllables.com Retrieved from https://HowManySyllables.com/howtocountsyllables 

Why: When we play rhyming games we are encouraging your child to break words down into smaller parts which will later help with learning to read.

Good Things To Observe: Clapping out sounds or rhythms of words and repeating them orally.

Visit your homepage to enter the secret code you received from your librarian to earn a badge and points for this activity.

Software Platform
The Library of Virginia has developed an online software program that will track and award points and electronic badges for completing learning activities.  The program, BookPoints, was developed for a summer reading program and has been expanded and enhanced for this program.  

The school readiness program will track books read and award 10 points per book read.  The activities in the school readiness software program may be self-awarding, [typically with no points attached] or earned through a secret code [typically worth 10 points each]  The secret code is commonly provided to the participant by library staff, but could be provided by an organization or partner.   To ensure that activities are age appropriate, parents will register and select the program their child will participate in.  The program will be divided into four age groups:
•	birth to 18 months
•	18 months to 36 months
•	ages 3 to 4
•	ages 5 and older.  

Electronic badges are awarded for reaching point milestones; for example, reaching 100 points for completing reading and activities.  Electronic badges may also be collected by attending events, or completing a learning task.  Attending a Virginia State Park program, or a visit to the Science Museum of Virginia are just two examples. 

Annually, the program will be cleaned and a new theme artwork will appear.  Typically this will be in September.  The Library of Virginia has worked with the VCU School of Arts students to create artwork featuring animals and landscapes of different biomes.  The Library of Virginia has the exclusive right to the artwork to use, reproduce, distribute, display, or otherwise adapt in all media, including any electronic, digital, or print form.

Tasks
	Set up BookPoints for School Readiness program.  This will include: 
o	Loading banner and badges
o	Create artist acknowledgement pages
o	Creating partnership pages
o	Updating homepage to describe the program
o	Changing footer
o	Talk with public libraries about family and group registration
o	Determining and creating reports 
	Work with Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen to create 1,000 developmental activities to support best practices. 
	Provide training on use of the program online through Join.me and face to face.
	Work with a small group of libraries to test and improve features.  This first year will also include representatives from other agencies – for example, Virginia Head Start, Virginia Foundation for Early Childhood and other interested parties.  
	Report on changes, progress and next steps at various conferences and on the Library of Virginia Extranet. 
	Work with the various Virginia departments to add school readiness information and content 
	Based on comments and findings from the year prior, make improvements to the software.
	Annually, add badges and activities.
	Evaluate each year, with a survey completed by library staff.  

Outcome
The expected benefit/outcome will be that the number of children needing kindergarten literacy intervention will decrease.  The expected outcome at the end of the grant cycle will be an increase in the number of children participating in the program.  A benefit of the program will be the children’s library staffs are more aware of age appropriate learning activities for young children.

-----Original Message-----
From: yscon [mailto:yscon-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Pannebaker, Susan
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2017 12:17 PM
To: yscon at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [yscon] Questions

Good afternoon,

I have been trying to develop a framework for family engagement based on the IDEA Book by Global Family Research and PLA and have not gotten far as other things keep popping up.  I feel like many of my libraries need a bit more structure than what was in that document.  Then the other day I found the  Parents 2017: Unleashing Their Power & Potential  report (https://r50gh2ss1ic2mww8s3uvjvq1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LH_ParentsReport2017_20170719_MasterScreen_SinglePages_AN.pdf)  that talked about parents perception of their child's abilities.  That has gotten me energized again.  I am wondering if anyone else has been thinking about what they could do to build on the IDEA book?

The other thing I am working on is helping PA libraries move toward summer learning.  My goals  are to find ways to reach more kids especially in rural areas and to shrink the opportunity gap. Libraries  need to be the place every child no matter the family's income can participate in programs that provide a chance to dabble in different topics and see what sticks.  One of our libraries has actually provided a week long dance camp.  If anyone else is heading in this direction I would like to talk with you.

And in answer to the question about collaboration software.  I have nothing I can use at work.  We are locked down pretty tight.  I do work arounds with my iPad, computer at home and USB sticks.

Susan

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Hosted by the Oregon State Library. The Library is not responsible for content.
Questions related to message content should be directed to the sender of the message, by phone or email.
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