[Insert the name of your library and/or your library’s logo here.] Fun with Science & Math for Parents and Children

Reading is essential to school success. Start now to help your child get ready to read. Learning to read begins before children start school.

Goals for Today’s Workshop Overview of the program’s values & ECRR’s six pre-reading skills Review of best practices for building those skills Activity ideas and book recommends Tips for engaging children in early literacy activities New Orleans Public Library and community resources supporting early literacy

Five Little Speckled Frogs (Hold five fingers (frogs) on top of your other arm (log)) Sat on a speckled log Eating the most delicious flies. Yum! Yum! (pat tummy) One jumped into the pool (jump a finger off the log into the pool) Where it was nice and cool Now there are Four green speckled frogs (Hold up four fingers) Keep counting down until there are no more speckled frogs!

Why are parents so important in helping their children get ready to read? You are your child’s first teacher. You know your child best. Children learn best by doing, and they love doing things with you. Core Values of Program

Reading is essential to school success. Children become “ready to read” between 4 and 7 years old, but becoming “ready to read” starts at birth. Being ready to read begins before children start school. You are already doing activities to help your child be ready to read.

Six Skills for Early Literacy Print Motivation - I Love Books Print Awareness - I See Words Phonological Awareness - I Hear Words and Sounds Narrative Skills - I Tell Stories Vocabulary - I Know Words Letter Knowledge - I Know My ABC’s

Five simple practices help children get ready to read. Help your child get ready to read with simple activities every day.

Why Science and Math? Learning about the world helps children get ready to read. The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking. —Albert Einstein Children can learn important knowledge about how the world works through simple science and math experiences. Trussell-Cullen (1999) defines nonfiction as a way to “document and celebrate the real world–and that means everything about the real world that is actual, observable, recordable, demonstrable, and experienceable” (p. 2). Journal for the Liberal Arts and Sciences 13(2), Spring 2009

Let’ s explore nature! 1.Question: Do objects under a magnifying glass look bigger or smaller when you look through it? Do objects look bigger or smaller as you move closer and further away? 2.Predict: Before you look, make a guess. What does the word ‘magnify’ mean? 3.Experiment: What happens to the object if you move your eye away from the magnifying glass? What happens if you move the glass up and down? What happens if you move far away from the object 4.Observe: Watch how the object appears as you move and as the glass moves. 5.Conclusion: What does a magnifying glass do??? What does your eye do to objects as you move closer and further away??? Learn About the World What is the scientific method? The scientific method is a way to ask and answer questions by making observations and doing experiments. What are the steps? 1. Ask a question. 2. Make a guess about the answer. 3. Do an experiment. 4. Make observations. 5. Draw conclusions.

Why can I see my breath when it is cold? How do trees get a drink of water? How much is one-half of something? What is your question? Start with questions. Help your child learn how to learn. Encourage your child to ask questions. Talk about possible answers. Look for answers together: talk, read, and write!

Sing songs that play with science & math concepts. Let’s sing “Dem Bones” Math helps children talk and learn about objects and ideas.

Let’s learn about…butterflies. Let‘s learn. 1. Look. 2. Talk. 3. Read. 4. Draw and write.

Read Information or Factual Books Read about topics that your children find especially interesting. Research finding: Children's experiences with the world greatly influence their ability to comprehend what they read. Reading involves comprehending written texts. What children bring to a text influences the understandings they take away and the use they make of what is read. Background knowledge about the world is built from a child's experiences. The more limited a child's experiences the more likely he or she will have difficulty comprehending what is read. Early Literacy: Policy and Practice in the Preschool Years By: Dorothy Strickland and Shannon Riley-Ayers

Use math to describe, compare, and draw conclusions. Play around with math.

More math adventures. Let’s have more fun with math!

Math concepts are easy to include in everyday conversation. How many are there? Which one is the largest? Which one looks like a cone? Can you put them in order from smallest to largest? Help your child: Count Measure Sort Compare Order

Explore the world with your children every day Learn together by: Exploring new ideas. Digging deeper. Asking questions. Experimenting. Drawing conclusions! Let’s Play with Static Electricity

Your home can be a learning center to help your child get ready to read. Make your home a learning zone! See Handout: Fun Science Mixtures at Home

The New Orleans Public Library helps children get ready to read. We have weekly story hours at most branches. Bring a friend to story hour.

Come to future Every Child Ready to Read classes for parents and children. Fun with Stories Fun with Words Fun with Letters We also offer PrimeTime Family Reading Time, a six-week literacy & discussion program for families with children ages 6 to 12.

neworleanspubliclibrary.org Hours (vary by location) Monday through Thursday: 10 am to 7 pm Saturday 10 am to 5 pm Friday: 10 am to 5 pm Main Library, Central City Friday: 9 am to 5 pm King Branch The New Orleans Public Library has been dedicated to promoting reading since 1896.

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