"B" is for "Background Building Experiences at Bargain Prices"

"B is for Background Building Experiences at Bargain Prices"

One of the biggest things parents can do to increase the likelihood of children's academic success is to provide them with experiences that build back ground knowledge.   The more background knowledge a child has, the easier it is for that child to integrate new learning into their working knowledge.  Summer presents an endless stream of opportunities for children to learn while having fun!

 Camps in our area cater to an amazing variety of interest areas, including scout camps, drama cooperatives, music camps, building and inventing, and ocean camps.  As a teacher, I am able to enjoy summers at home; however,  I encourage my children to each select one day camp that appeals to them as a fun learning experience.  This opportunity for enrichment allows each child to have some time to themselves (away from the family for the day, just for a week or so), in addition to making new friends and learning more about something in which they're interested.  This year, my daughter has chosen a chamber music camp and my son has selected a Lego Mindstorms camp.   Clearly, the aforementioned camps come at a hefty premium.  What of the "bargain prices"?  For background building experiences for little or no cost, look no further than your local library!  Our local library offers programs for everyone from toddlers to teens, in a variety of interest areas- I'm sure other libraries do the same...in fact so sure, I decided double check to find out!

Let me backtrack a bit.  Our family has decided that since we went to California (twice) last year, and we visited the Cape for Easter, AND we had to buy a new living room set this summer (the wood has come through the fabric on our 19 year old sofa), that we'd be staying close to home this summer, with the exception of the two camps the kids selected.  So, the challenge became making the summer exciting with limited (read :"NO";-) funds....

Our family is a family of bookworms.  Books, jewelry, and candy are all held in equally high regard by various members of our household.   So, keeping this is mind (that, and the fact that we're borderline Amish when it comes to media restrictions with the kids, on top of the fact that we don't have air conditioning ;-), you'll understand why my suggestion of the following project was greeted with unanimous "yays"!

I recommended to the kids that since our town library is so awesome, we should check out other public libraries in CT to see what they have to offer voracious kid bookworms!  I mentioned that libraries are free, they almost all have central air, and are loaded with our favorite things- books!  The kids were all over it.  Within minutes, they were researching libraries and their hours of operation.

So how to organize it?  Well, I mentioned that since my blog is A-Z, perhaps we could try and visit 26 libraries in our state, each from a town with a different letter of the alphabet, and we could add our observations to the blog.  My 11 year old has been DYING to do some blogging (too Amish for an e-mail account of her own- she figures this is as close as she's gonna get for awhile ;-), so she's volunteered to piggyback on my blog and document our efforts.

So, we've got a map where the kids have been plotting our visits, and we've planned out libraries through the letter "i" for now.  We visited Avon Free Public Library today (AWESOMELY renovated, with children's librarians who were excited about our project), and my daughter has amended my "A is for Absence" post to include her review of the Avon library.   Tomorrow, we'll visit the Blackstone library in Branford.  Look for this post to be edited tomorrow, when she adds her review of that library.  

We're excited to have a "quest" that supplies free air conditioning, builds background knowledge (map reading skills and we're learning lots about CT history and geography, too!), and is the perfect arena for a family of bibliophiles- woot!

 "B is for the Branford Public Library (James Blackstone Memorial Library)": an 11 year-old's Review :-)

So today we went to the Branford Public Library. (Click here to visit the James Blackstone Memorial Library Website) We pulled into the parking lot and were amazed at the gorgeous library Branford had for themselves. We went inside and there was a huge dome top with a fabulous painting of the evolution of the publishing process, starting with the Egyptians and papyrus (pictured below). This was painted by Oliver Dennett Grover who also sculpted the bust of Timothy Blackstone which is housed in the library. The children's room was on the top level and had separate  rooms for fiction and nonfiction. 

 I have to say I was disappointed that there weren't many places to sit and read a book here,  which I feel is a very important component of a library.On a more positive note, being inside this library made me feel like I had been transported back to a different period in time. It felt like the late 1800's. We found out the library was named after a senator named James Blackstone who was alive from 1793-1886. The library's construction started in 1893 and ended in 1896. We had a great time at the James Blackstone Memorial Library and tomorrow I can't wait to visit the Cheshire Library. 

This is the view of the main floor of the library.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder!

 

A is For "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder"

Well, looks like "a day or two" break from blogging turned into a "month or two".  That's what happens to high hopes when they're tossed into the "activities vortex" that is comprised of the months May and June!  We've had recitals (3, with 3 dress rehearsals), concerts (3, with one dress rehearsal), author's teas, project fairs, field days (3, if you include the one at the school where I'm a teacher), report cards (20- where I'm told I write far too much- but hey, parents appreciate good feedback, right???), softball games and practices (approximately 5 bajillion), soccer games and practices (only one bajillion- soccer kid younger than softball kid), fencing lessons (VERY cool new endeavor), and creating approximately 45 Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts (that's a combined total for my class and my personal kids). Could hardly put a cohesive thought together for speaking, never mind writing!

So, now you know I haven't been laying on the sofa eating chocolate, drinking wine, and smoking cigarettes while watching reality television instead of trying to be a disciplined writer (well, to be 100% truthful, I did manage to drink wine, eat chocolate, and watch a little of reality TV during the vortex...but no cigarettes ;-)!

I plan on cruising through the alphabet again this summer, with a new letter every couple of days.  I've noticed that the summertime attitude/schedule/extended daylight often frees up spaces in our minds for new ideas and perspectives.  I hope you'll join me as I explore some of them and how they relate to building a strong learning foundation for our children!

A is for "Avon Free Public Library"

 "Hi!" This is Jennifer's daughter, and I'm 11. Over the summer we decided it would be great to go all over the state of Connecticut and discover different libraries. We loved the idea because of our craving for books and the fact that our house is not air conditioned also played a role in our decision!! ;) I thought it would be interesting to do it in ABC order and blog it by adding on to my Mom's blog. So today after my brother's swimming lesson, we traveled to Avon for an hour or so and visited the Avon Free Public Library.

We pulled into the parking lot and gasped at the beautiful library in front of us. We walked inside and found ourselves in front of a table with a map of the library (very useful) and a brochure called the Library Times. I thought it was a clever idea and I looked inside and found that the library had just been rededicated at the beginning of June after being renovated for about 15 months. I have to say it's amazing inside and the whole upstairs is devoted to children. They even have a special room just for teens. We checked it out and talked to the librarians about what we were doing. They were very nice and suggested we blog about it. We sat down, looked at some books, and decided which programs we wanted to check out. I have always wanted to have a craft sale and my Mom found one for kids and by kids that will be happening at this library in August. Also for summer reading at this library, for every 5 books you read a $1 donation will be given to the Make a Wish Foundation. We thought that was a great idea something every library should take part in. The Make a Wish Foundation would earn so much money especially because there are so many children that enjoy reading. Our trip to Avon was so much fun and I can't wait to check out "B" (the Blackstone Library in Branford) tomorrow.

Check out the cool chair we found in the Teen Room!