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Early Literacy Express!


This month we're taking a mindfulness moment.  With questions about school reopenings and child care raging, we know it's important to have calm and peaceful activities to keep your and your littles grounded.  Welcome to the August edition of the East Grand Forks Campbell Library's Early Literacy Express.  Keep calm AND help your children build the skills they'll need to succeed in school and beyond.
Join us!
Virtual Storytime and Baby Bounce can be found on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDn_NyYAHSVpAiMb8_JPr5w

Front Door Pick-up is available!  Click here for more information.

Every Child Ready to Read!


Every Child Ready to Read, a nation-wide, research-based program, is composed of five simple practices that can help your child get ready for reading.  Each month we'll share one fun new article or activity for each practice.
 

READ


Let's be real.  It hasn't been any easy five months for any of us.  The American Academy of Pediatrics say that children are very likely to be affected by a parent or guardian's emotional state, even in spite of verbal messages you may be giving to the contrary.  Reading some calming books or books about dealing with anxiety meant for toddlers and preschoolers can help you talk about stress with your child and will probably help you both to be a little calmer.  Our favorites are The Rabbit Listened and Quiet.
 
SING

Singing in and of itself is a great soother.  Singing and listening to music reduces the amount of cortisol, or stress hormone, in our systems.  So this month we've got some relaxing music for you.  OCB Relax Music has whole playlist of calm, instrumental only songs great for kids (though we also really like Netflix Jr.'s Calm Body Calm Mind Song)

WRITE


One of the tenets of mindfulness is being present in the moment.  Sponge painting has the benefit of being both a mindful activity AND a great way to develop the hand muscles needed for writing.  As you and your littles get your sponges out, talk about the feel of the sponge in your hand.  Does it feel different when squished or full of paint?  Focus on your sensations as you paint.  And practice that sponge squeezing to exercise your writing muscles!

TALK


When you have to talk about serious topics with little kids, it can help to have props.  Laughing Kids Learn suggests drawing faces on plastic eggs to create tools for talking about emotions.  You can use these guys to roleplay emotions - break out that mirror and practice mimicking the face shown on the egg.  Talk about what each egg feels and why they might feel that way.  Science tells us that children are better able to regulate their emotions when they can identify and name them. This is an easy way to start that process.

PLAY


With social activities being kept to a minimum, it can be hard to keep everyone entertained and sane.  Colorado Libraries for Early Literacies suggests DIY scavenger hunts.  You can make them up on the fly, get out of your house for a while safely, and work on early literacy skills.  If you've got older children too, give geocaching a try.  There are several caches in our area and working on finding them works on spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.
Here's our August Early Literacy Activities Calendar.  Just do one short activity a day to help your child develop their pre-reading skills.  Feel free to share it with friends and family!
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Copyright © 2020 East Grand Forks Campbell Library, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
 422 4th St. NW, East Grand Forks, MN 56721 
(218) 773-9121 ~ alorenz@egflibrary.org

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