Beyond Story Time: Supporting Learning at Home
Through story time, parents, caregivers, and children are developing a love of reading and the library. Story time invites curiosity, discovery, and exploration. These interactive programs incorporate reading, singing, talking, writing and playing in order to build the skills needed for school in a welcoming environment supported by early learning professionals. York County Libraries recognize parents as their children’s first and best teachers. As such, staff model early literacy practices and share library resources, so parents and caregivers can continue to build reading skills at home.
Check out these books from York County Libraries.
Additional Early Literacy Resources Online
Bedtime Math Foundation. Bedtime Math was created with a simple premise: to make math a fun part of kids’ everyday lives, as beloved as the bedtime story. https://bedtimemathfoundation.org/
Child Care Consultants. Ensures that all families have access to affordable, high quality child care choices that lead to success in school and life. https://childcareconsultants.org/
CLEL StoryBlocks. StoryBlocks is a collection of 30-60 second videos designed to model to parents, caregivers, and library staff some songs, rhymes, and fingerplays appropriate for early childhood. Each video clip includes helpful early literacy tips to increase caregivers’ understanding of child development and pre-literacy needs. https://www.storyblocks.org/
The Nemours Foundation. “Reading BrightStart!” Nemours BrightStart!’s mission is to promote reading success and prevent reading failure for all children, focusing on birth to age 8. https://www.readingbrightstart.org/
Pennsylvania Child Care Association. “Pennsylvania One Book Early Literacy Program.” PA One Book, Every Young Child is a valuable program that highlights the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers and the significance of reading early and often to children, as well as engaging them in conversation and other activities around books. https://paonebook.powerlibrary.org/
Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children. PA Promise is a campaign to help families make good choices about their child’s early learning and choose quality early learning programs that are right for their family. https://papromiseforchildren.com/
Reading Rockets. Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. https://www.readingrockets.org/
Start Early. For nearly 40 years, Start Early has been a champion for early learning. Learn more about what has shaped us and what moves us forward. https://www.startearly.org/
University of Pittsburgh, Office of Child Development. “Parenting Guides.” You and Your Child is a series of easy-to-use parenting guides designed to help raise healthy children. Each guide is based on current parenting literature and has been reviewed by a panel of child development experts and practitioners. https://www.ocd.pitt.edu/parenting-guides
Zero to Three. Zero to Three ensures that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life and envisions a society that has the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential. https://www.zerotothree.org/
PA Cruise into Kindergarten. The goal of the Cruise into Kindergarten program is to increase awareness of the importance of early learning in all communities in Pennsylvania through the collaboration of libraries and other state and local agencies involved with early learning. https://cruiseintok.powerlibrary.org/
Ready Freddy. The Ready Freddy: Pathways to Kindergarten Success program includes all the pieces of a quality transition to school. https://www.readyfreddy.org/
The Pennsylvania Key. “Early Learning Standards.” Pennsylvania’s Learning Standards for Early Childhood are research-based according to age and development, and form the foundation for curriculum, assessment, instruction and intervention within early care and education programs. https://www.pakeys.org/pa-early-learning-initiatives/early-learning-standards/