Back To School with Spongebob!

Kids, parents and television:

Parents rightly have varying attitudes towards kids and television. When I was a kid, TV was either family time, or a last resort. 

The fact is that your kid is constantly exposed to television advertising and merchandising at school, even if s/he isn't that interested. And even in elementary school, this can define popularity aka coolness.

Fight back!

Your kid can still watch less TV, but be tuned in. Here's a partial list of TV shows that come from good books, or have good associated books:

The Max and Ruby series- Rosemary Wells. Wells' Max and Ruby books are usually very good for preK and K-1- but she also has the Edward the Unready series, the Felix series, the Yoko series, and more titles. If your kid talks about Max and Ruby, this is a great chance to introduce other, more advanced picture books Wells has written and illustrated.

Spongebob- a universal icon of ridiculous fun: introducing Spongebob easy readers and early chapter books can get elementary school boys who "don't like reading" to get interested. With kids who don't like reading, if reading is a family time, they might be more motivated. Get out the popcorn and get out the books, for everyone, adults and kids. For truly reluctant readers, try the Spongebob graphic novels for elementary school kids.

Olivia- Ian Falconer.

Curious George- HA Rey.

With both Falconer and Rey, the original work is much better illustration, and a parent might notice that. But as long as your kids are reading with enthusiasm, remember that kids are less visually acute than adults. Just introduce them to the originals, and let them know that you like the original author / illustrator's work best, and why. And that's a great start on a great visual education.

Dora y Diego

Providence has a huge Hispanic population, and the demand for books about Dora and Diego is so high they're hard to keep on the shelves. Both TV shows focus on the environment and animal life, which is a great opportunity to check out the non-fiction areas at your library. If your kid wants to know more about animals, environments / biomes, and natural history, your neighborhood library has got those books!

Happy reading!

Homework- who, where, why, when ... what?

courtesy: FOUND Magazine

Homework: kids, you know you have to!
The US Department of Education has a great downloadable PDF called "Helping Your Child With Homework." This is a 23 page booklet, that walks parents through everything they can do to give their kids the right space, tools, and encouragement to do homework without pressure and with less confusion. This is also a great tool for parents who want to talk to their kids about why homework matters, because it uses really reasonable, logical language to talk about how doing homework helps kids do better in school and enjoy school more.
For homework help on a walk-in basis, call any of the 9 neighborhood libraries that are Providence Community Library during any of our open hours. We'll tell you when we have tutors on site, and we can also answer some questions right over the phone, or send you an e-mail link. And ask our librarians if there are any neighborhood resources- there usually are!
In Rhode Island, we've got Homework Help through AskRI.org. Our librarians will usually recommend this for high school kids and some middle school kids, because it's online, but if you work with a younger kid to use the encyclopedia and kid-friendly databases, it's a great learning opportunity.
Parents should also check out VIPS, Volunteers in Public Schools- they're changing their name to Inspiring Minds, and still offering free after-school and Saturday tutoring. VIPS also can connecting parents with resources for their kids both in and out of school. Parents can call 401274.3240.
The Learning Coach is a newer name, offering free after-school tutoring and free transportation. Interested parents should call 401 272. 2037.
Stay tuned!

Back to School, part 2!

Parents!
One great way to get your kids ready for school is to make sure they're eating healthy meals that will give them energy for school. The Meals Matter website has meal planners, recipes, and nutrition information. And try BAM! Body and Mind , a very flashy, fun looking web site where kids can learn about fitness, food and nutrition, exercise, and safety by taking a quiz or playing a game.

To make school fun, incorporate learning into kids' game time. I love math, but math is NOT the most popular subject in school for most kids, so introduce them to math games and play with them. The American Library Association has a whole list of kid-friendly math sites. And check out Danica McKellar's very fun how-to math books for kids and adults. Not every parent will love this style of teaching math, but chances are their kids will.

And also look for How To Help Your Kids With Math, published by Dorling Kindersley, which we're adding to our collection right now.

See you next time!

Go Back To School with WPK Library!

WPK Library slogan of the month: back to school!

For kids and teens:

First, we have a whole batch of brand new books for guys who don't usually like to read. We've been getting more Scholastic books so if you see it at the school book fair, we can probably get it for you. We constantly have great books for teens- ask Sara, Lyndsy, or Lanham what we think you might like.

For adults:

We have a whole lot of nueves libros bilingues en Espanol / Ingles and will be adding livres en Francais. (Aussi, L'Alliance Française de Providence, a 928 Smith Street, 401 272-6243, a commencé une bibliothèque nouvelle de la langue française, et offre un grand nombre de classes.)

We have a lot of new resources for adult students and test-takers. We also have new Triple Crown and Strebor books, y estamos comenzado un club de lecturas en espanol! Check in por mas informaciones con Carolina Briones - llamada a Washington Park Library, 781.3136.

What's new this fall?

The Sketchbook Project: anyone who likes to draw will get a sketchbook and can use our drawing materials. They'll keep the sketchbook behind the desk with Lyndsy and Sara when they're not using it. Then, when we celebrate Youth Art Month, we'll have a party and invite people to come check out our drawings.

Teen Book Club- hey, we're just starting and we didn't like our first book, but Tanisha chose "To Kill A Mockingbird" as our next book, and after we read it, we'll watch the incredibly good film version.

We're going to restart Homework Help, and Jackie should be back. Julio, WPK's security guard, is looking forward to coming back too. Chess Club is starting back up with a visit from the guy who invented Plunder Chess, and Sam and Jorge should be on board. Math Table will definitely start up again.

See you then!