Mind Readers: Thinking Out Loud Can Raise Children’s Comprehension Skills |...
It’s toddler storytime: let the rumpus begin! Toddlers bound quickly into the room. One hurdles mom’s legs while waiting for the opening song. Some hop, others roam, and a few practically climb our...
View ArticleThe Neglected Ones: Children of undocumented immigrants seldom receive the...
These days the news is full of polarizing stories about undocumented immigrants. Rarely do we hear about the 4.5 million children born each year in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents....
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Why Offer Black Storytime? | First Steps
Photo courtesy of Jupiterimages Imagine that while interviewing for a library job you’re asked, “What would storytime specifically for African-American families look like to you?” That’s what happened...
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The Pleasure Principle: Children (and grown-ups) tend to do what’s most fun |...
First Steps began almost nine years ago, in February of 2004. Our first column was about the importance of having fun, because we believed that fun was a key element in any discussion of early...
View ArticleA Running Start: We’re excited about the latest programs for very young...
It’s good to begin the New Year with enthusiasm. Here at Multnomah County Library we’re excited about several things. First, and perhaps most importantly, we’re looking forward to being successful at...
View ArticleGive Them a Big Hand: Puppets are great motivators for children who are...
One of the most surprising early literacy questions we’ve encountered is about puppets. It came from a youth librarian whose director insisted that he couldn’t see how using puppets “has any value...
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Chew That Book: Why Babies Belong in Libraries | First Steps
It’s 1993, and I’m terrified. Heart pounding, sweaty palms. What was I thinking when I agreed to do this? I’m preparing to lead the rhyme “Itsy Bitsy Spider” to a group of smiling, drooling babies and...
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Goal: 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten | First Steps
Lately, I have become obsessed with numbers—and with good reason. Across the country, educators are looking to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to increase the level of students’ knowledge by...
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Bedtime Math Battles Summer Slide in Both Math and Reading
I love research and statistics, which is a funny statement coming from a self-proclaimed math–phobe. But I do. Recently, I’ve been looking at statistics showing how the “summer slide” affects students...
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Preschool and the Income Gap: Libraries Must Step Up to Serve Children of Color
Photo © Brand X Pictures/Getty Images. After President Obama’s January 2014 State of the Union address, I reported on renewed federal support for preschool education and the potential role of...
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Chaos in Your Children’s Section? Embrace It. | First Steps
Confession: I dislike flying. But when SLJ held its second annual Think Tank event at the Nashville Public Library in April, I knew I had to go. Man, am I glad I forced myself onto that airplane....
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A National Effort to Read to Kids 15 Minutes a Day Needs Our Support
Remember the adage “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Well, pediatricians have a new one: “A book a day builds your brain today!” OK, I just made that little ditty up. But there is a lot of...
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Teaching STEAM with Lois Ehlert: Preschool isn’t too early to introduce STEM...
Looking over 20 years’ worth of storytime plans that I have created for my toddler and preschool programs, I notice that one author’s name appears quite regularly: Lois Ehlert. Her titles are instantly...
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PNC Bank’s $350 Million Early Learning Push | First Steps
Banks are not traditionally known for innovating with early childhood education programs—or for acting as cheerleaders for a Guinness Book of World Records challenge, for that matter. Yet PNC Bank,...
View ArticleYou’ve Gotta Have Heart | First Steps
A baby’s emotional development is more important than many folks think “Can I play too?” Undeniably, a toddler who can approach friends and ask this sophisticated question is well on his way to...
View ArticleSweet Treats | First Steps
Poems can create a lifelong love of language in youngsters “The first sound a child hears is actually a poem, the rhythmic, rhyming beat-beat-beat of a mother’s heart,” writes Jim Trelease in his...
View ArticlePlay It Again | First Steps
Play produces children who are emotionally healthy and ready for school A quote from George Bernard Shaw hangs in our office, guiding our daily interactions: “We don’t quit playing because we grow old;...
View ArticleA Little DAP Will Do Ya | First Steps
An often ignored concept is the key to successful programming Best practice to a youth librarian is using lots of songs in storytimes for babies and repeating them each week. Best practice is choosing...
View ArticleIt’s Showtime! | First Steps
There’s one preschool program that parents can’t resist Our colleague Yvonne has two passions—storytelling and young children. Meeting with 20 children twice a week for a month, Yvonne transforms a...
View ArticleThe (Really) Big Six: Early Literacy Skills | First Steps
Without these preliteracy skills, children can’t become skilled readers Phonological awareness. Print motivation. Remember how strange some of the six early literacy skills sounded when librarians...
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