I have a loved one who was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). As I was present for his PT sessions, I realized that much of what the instructor was doing, I as a librarian had done the same during read-alouds and Story Time. After the sessions it had me thinking about my practices during storytime. With that in mind I did what all librarians do which is research, specifically on Autism Spectrum Disorder and reading.
Author: Early and Family Literacy committee
Growing with Project Ready
I am very fortunate. I have been able to work with the ALSC Early and Family Literacy Committee for the past two years, where bringing an equity, diversity and inclusion focus is now at the forefront of all our work. As we find current, relevant literacy research to share with the ALSC community, we are very intentional about integrating and including EDI perspectives.
Research Matters
The ALSC Board charged the Early and Family Literacy Committee (EFL) to “identify, synthesize, and disseminate current research findings relevant to early and family literacy issues from library schools, scholars of education, and other advocacy sources to libraries, childcare providers, and community agencies serving young children (birth through age 8).”
Brain Exhausted? Streaming Media to the Rescue!
While I am not having quite as much difficulty concentrating as I did early on in the pandemic, delving deep into research articles has not gotten any easier. As part of my work on the Early and Family Literacy Committee, I have Google Scholar alerts for articles on the topics “early literacy” and “family literacy”. I receive a digest semi-weekly and skim through looking for articles relevant to our charge.
An Interview with Amy Forrester on Early Reader Work
The ALSC Early and Family Literacy Committee’s charge includes children from birth to age 8 and their families. Thinking about the first and second graders who are learning to read reminded me that Denver Public Library (DPL) has created a team to create best practices within their library system to better support these emerging readers. Amy Seto Forrester, who has served on the Geisel Committee, and who is one of mainstays for the Guessing Geisel Blog also works at DPL. I decided to see what she could tell us. Carol: What prompted DPL to work on emerging reader services and collections at DPL? Amy: In 2018 when DPL’s Grade Level Reading (GLR) Team was launched only 38% of Denver Public School (DPS) 3rd graders were meeting or exceeding expectations on the reading assessment (2018 Status of Denver’s Children, City of Denver, Office of Children’s Affairs, page 96). Put another way,…
Our Kids Learning from Play
One of the key tenets of Early Literacy is play. Play is an integral part in a child’s development. Play allows children to use their creativity to decipher the world around them and build critical thinking and problem solving skills. As librarians and educators, we use play in various programs to engage children in learning and reading. Play is how kids learn! But research tells us that it isn’t just physical play that is important to learning. Play also includes digital play, creative play, and playing with language through music and movement. Digital play has become just as important as physical play. Kids retrieve information from the internet as well as from books. This is true now more than ever before. In Research in Brief: Digital Play in Early Childhood Education: Supporting Children’s Relational Information Literacy research conducted by Theobald et. al. observed how digital play helped foster children’s…
Library Environment: Third Teacher & Invisible Hand
Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. ~James Clear, Atomic Habits
Supporting Evidence-Based Practice
Have you ever wondered why we sing hello and goodbye songs during storytime? Or why we provide coloring sheets in the children’s room? As Children’s Librarians, we know there are various accepted practices that we implement in our everyday work. From singing at storytime rather than just reading books to providing opportunities for play and socialization for both children and adults, there are certain actions we all take. After a while, these actions become routine and we may not think about why it is we choose these over their alternatives. In some cases, they may not even have ever been explained; they have just been passed from mentor to mentee simply by example rather than described along with the reasoning behind it. However, in order to arrive at the conclusion that these practices should be the most accepted and widely used, someone had to ask: Which actions best support childhood…