By Amy Hofmockel, Creative Technology Librarian You may be in a cafe, out in Scoville Park, or at the library trying to access a public WiFi network, or connecting with a mobile WiFi hotspot that you have checked out from the library. But how do you know you are connecting to the right network? Using your laptop … Read more
This week, I shared a video on using breathing to regulate your body when you’re feeling stressed or getting too excited on a fun day. A lot of the songs we sing and games we play in storytime help kids practice self-regulation: kids are following patterns in movement and song, and staying paced with the … Read more
What do you think of when you see a book? Are books something stressful? Boring? Magical? Exciting? Something in between? It’s okay to not always feel excited about books or reading. It’s okay to have phases where other forms of learning and entertainment are what bring you joy. It’s okay to read books in different … Read more
The Village of Oak Park has proclaimed 2021 as the Year of the Butterfly, and we’re doing our part to ensure everyone knows all they can to protect the monarch butterfly! Find facts, fun activities and resources, books to check out, and programs to attend below. Discover facts about monarch butterflies About the monarch butterfly … Read more
This week, the Fred Rogers Center shared an article from Zero to Three about the power of music for infants and toddlers. It ties music to key early development skills: physical, thinking, language, and literacy skills. As a librarian, I know the value of music; that’s why so much of our storytimes are music based. … Read more
Marvelous! Splendiferous! Sensational! There are so many delightful and fun words that exist. The more words that kids know, the easier it will be for them to decode and read them when they’re ready. Preschoolers young and old love to use big fancy words. How many can you use together? Maybe you look at a … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian What kind of things do you hear during the winter? When there’s a lot of snow on the ground, it can actually be very quiet! Until a snowplow comes by. Or the wind starts blowing and whistling. Or kids start playing in the snow. There are many benefits to paying … Read more
By John Gargiulo, Supervising Librarian of Creative Technology Searching the internet for trustworthy information can feel exhausting at times. With seemingly endless results, it’s often tempting to just click on the first or second option. But is the first result the most useful or the most accurate? Maybe, but not necessarily. One easy way to narrow the scope … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Well, 2021 has certainly begun right where 2020 left off: with a lot of tough topics. Even our youngest kids know when big or upsetting things happen in the news. They may not know the details, but they can see and feel the strong emotions of their grownups and that … Read more
By John Gargiulo, Supervising Librarian of Creative Technology Do you have a Gmail account? Gmail provides you with access to Google apps like Docs, Slides, and Drive. If you have used Docs and Slides before, you may have noticed that all of those files are stored in Google Drive. So what is Google Drive? Cloud-based storage: Files are autosaved … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Every year, our final Early Bird Reader tip we send via text (Want weekly early learning tips from the Oak Park Public Library? Sign up now for Early Bird Readers ») is to share stories about the year that’s ending. Sharing memories is a great way to practice narrating stories, … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Songs are powerful! When we plan our storytime classes, we organize them to build energy and then calm kids down before we send them back on their way. When we want to build energy, we do a lot of movement songs and silly songs, and then choose quieter songs to … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian I’m one of those odd ducks who loves winter and snow and is excited to get this season started. I know—my co-workers shake their head over me, too. But I also know this is going to be a long and hard winter for a lot of people, so Jenny and … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Miss Jenny and I both love building fun sounds into our storytimes and our videos. Sounds, especially unexpected ones, get and keep everyone’s interest and attention. Will your preschooler understand you if you give them directions using inflections and gestures but only mooing? Yes, probably! And they might even focus … Read more
Math. Did you just shudder? Or grin? Most people have a strong reaction to math, one way or the other. When I was growing up, one of my absolute must see shows was Square One TV on PBS. I was definitely a book person over a math person, but I was obsessed with this show. … Read more
Smartphones have changed the way we communicate and interact with the world around us. Beyond acting as a telephone, smartphones allow us to have instant access to quick and useful tools called apps. What are apps for? Simply put, an app is a type of software that allows you to perform different tasks. The word … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Mr. Andy, one of our past librarians, always used to tell caregivers that he could remember the words to “Sweet Caroline” much better than he could remember how to use and program his remote control. Does that feel familiar? Things set to song are easier to remember! If you have … Read more
By John Gargiulo, Supervising Librarian of Creative Technology Do you have a Gmail account? Gmail provides you with access to Google apps like Docs, Drive, and Slides. If you have used programs like Microsoft Word before, Google Docs will feel very familiar to you. ‘A more streamlined feel’ Google Docs is a text editor program with a more … Read more
Sometimes, at the Children’s Services desk, small kids come up to the desk and proudly read a book to us. Their caregiver will laugh and say they memorized it or are describing the pictures. And guess what? That is also reading! The articles about Picture Walks and Whole Book Reading offer ways to let kids … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris When we think about talking with our smallest kids, there are so many sounds involved: animal sounds, choo choo sounds, airplane sounds. These may feel like small things, but they’re important—the sounds we make with our kids are the building blocks of words. Being able to hear and practice those … Read more
