Here is our August update for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!
Remember, if you have not yet registered, there are two ways to participate in 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten:
- You can visit a Library location to receive a paper log. Staff will take your information and provide you with a booklet to keep track of all the books your child reads.
- Or sign up on Beanstack to track books online, the Library’s online reading platform. Just create an account and log books as your child completes them. You can even download the Beanstack app to log books by scanning their barcode with your phone!
Literacy at Home
(You + your little one) x books = a foundation for a love of reading and a wonderful way to connect and bond! Double your reading’s impact when you combine early literacy with early math awareness.
We’re primed for math from our itty-bittiest days: babies recognize and respond to patterns, rhythms, and repetition naturally. Many children’s books introduce and reinforce math concepts, whether you realize it while you’re reading or not. There are number and counting books, of course, but also books about shapes, opposites (big and small), comparatives (big, bigger, biggest), and spatial relationships (under, between, etc.). For more insight, check out ZeroToThree’s great summary “Help Your Child Develop Early Math Skills” and the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s article, “10 Things to Know About Math”.
Early math literacy and early reading literacy go hand in hand! For example, take NAEYC’s article “Support Math Readiness Through Math Talk”. When you count, add, or problem-solve out loud, you also support early reading literacy by growing and reinforcing vocabulary, helping children develop their own speaking skills, and expanding their background knowledge of the world around them. From “The Ants Go Marching One by One” to “Ten In The Bed”, there are countless (see what I did there?) counting and number songs and rhymes to enjoy with your child. We talked about the benefits of singing in our last blog post, so go ahead and sing your heart out!
Book Recommendations
Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke is one of our favorite counting books! Baby and his Mama visit a bustling open-air market and Mama’s bag gets mysteriously heavier with each passing market stall…
Where Are the Eggs? by Grace Lin is part of the delightful Storytelling Math series. Help Mei search for her chicken’s eggs while talking about spatial concepts.
Shapes is part of the My First Brain Quest series and is almost like a seek-and-find book! How many shapes can you find on each page?
Comparrotives by Janik Coat explores comparative words and concepts with the help of a parrot. Parrot goes from noisy to noisier, messy to messier, and silly to sillier!
Rafa Counts on Papá by Joe Cepeda is another charming standout. Rafa and his Papá love to count and measure. But can you measure love? These two have some ideas!
Smart George by Jules Feiffer is the laugh-out-loud funny follow-up to Bark George. When George's mother asks him to add one plus one, two plus two, and three plus three, George would rather eat, go for a walk, and take a nap. But soon George finds himself in a colorful dream about...numbers!
For Caregivers
Baby Steps to STEM by Jean Barbre is an extensive and accessible resource for caregivers and teachers, loaded with play-based and developmentally appropriate STEM activities. Barbre writes about how young children learn, the role of caregivers and teachers, tips for enhancing STEM learning, and lists dozens of STEM activities and related picture book recommendations.
Library Updates
There are so many fun special events to look forward to at the St. Louis Public Library! Of course, our annual Summer Challenge continues until August 15 with reading and activities for the whole family (not to mention the prize package!). Branches city-wide are hosting pop-up play exhibits from the Magic House. And don’t miss our fantastic lineup of summer performances featuring puppets, music, and live storytelling.
As always, our online events calendar is where to look for programs and activities. You can filter the list by location, audience age, and event type to help find what you’re looking for.
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