Library Partners

June 7, 2017April 21, 2017 / lucasrfranklin / Leave a comment

Did you know that the Children’s Department at the Cheshire Public Library visits almost every preschool in Cheshire once a month? Did you know that Cheshire Birth-to-Three child development experts visit library programs to answer questions caregivers have? Did you know that the library participates at local festivals such as Fall Festival, Strawberry Festival, Touch-a-Truck and more? Over the past two and half years the Children’s Department has been partnering with local organizations who serve youth to share resources, expertise, and reach more people. Below is a brief summary of a few of our partners.

Cheshire Birth-to-Three:
Cheshire Birth-to-Three program has a highly qualified and experienced staff consisting of a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, social worker and special education teachers. The staff makes home visits to provide speech, physical, occupational and/or educational services. In addition, B-3 hosts the Parent/Child Resource Center which is a playgroup for children ages 0-3 and their parents.

If you have concerns regarding your child’s development, either attend the Parent/Child Resource Center at Darcey School (call for times 203-272-9108) or call Infoline at 1-800-505-7000 and request the Cheshire Birth-to-Three Program. The Birth-to-Three Team can conduct a complete developmental evaluation in your home.

Artsplace:
Artsplace provides a creative environment for students to explore their artistic endeavors. This is possible with our fantastic teaching staff (many national award winners) of over 20 professional artists. Art classes and workshops are offered in a wide variety that are suitable for all ages and levels. The youngest Artsplace student is three and the oldest is ninety nine. Artsplace is a most uncommon art school in that standard supplies are provided for all classes.

Cheshire Parks and Recreation:
The Cheshire Parks and Recreation Department offers a wide variety of activities to the residents of Cheshire and maintains the beauty of the many parks in our town. The department maintains and schedules six major park facilities, the Youth Center, and the Community Pool.

Visit their website to find classes and other activities for yourself or your young one. They offer everything from adult yoga to toddler music classes. Visit here to learn more.

Cheshire YMCA:
The Cheshire Community YMCA is the premier child care provider by offering a safe and nurturing environment in which children are encouraged to develop social skills through age appropriate curriculum. They offer everything from enrichment classes for youth, preschool to aftercare for elementary school students. Visit their Child Development page to find out more about their youth services.

Musical Folk:
Musical Folk offer Music Together^® Program, Ukulele and Movement classes! Have you ever wondered what you can do to nurture the musical growth of your child, regardless of your own musical ability? Experience Music Together and find out how important–and how fun–your role can be! Music Together® classes build on your child’s natural enthusiasm for music and movement while developing important musical, social, cognitive, physical & language skills.

OWL: Observe, Wait, Listen

May 15, 2017April 25, 2017 / lucasrfranklin / Leave a comment

If you’ve visited the Children’s Department of the Cheshire Public Library you’ve probably noticed the large amounts of toys we have. We love to see kids play and love to see them playing with their caregivers together even more! We view play as a fundamental building block for preparing children to read as well as the general development of any child.

There are a few easy steps that you can take to enhance play with your little one in the easy to remember acronym OWL. This system was developed by the Hanen Centre, a not-for-profit charitable organization committed to promoting the best possible language, literacy, and social skills in young children. We provide parents and professionals with a variety of resources and trainings to help them maximize the early language learning of all children – including those with or at risk of language delays and those with developmental challenges such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. For more tips and strategies on building interaction into every part of the day, visit their website at www.hanen.org

Observe
Wait
Listen

Observe: Understanding what your child wants or what is going through their mind is difficult. Taking the time to observe your child and see where their attention is focused on can help you share the moment with him/her.

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Wait: Waiting gives your child time to start an interaction or respond to what you’ve said or done. Waiting means three things: stop talking, lean forward, and look at your child expectantly. Waiting can be one of the most difficult things for parents/caregivers to do. Counting to 10 to yourself can help ensure you don’t rush.

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Listen: Listening means paying very close attention to your child’s words and sounds and ensuring that you don’t interrupt him/her. This can be difficult, especially when you are trying to figure out what your child is trying to tell you.

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We have many books and DVDs by the Hanen Centre that expand on OWL at the Cheshire Public Library in the Parenting Collection in the Children’s Room. Check them out today.

You can also attend our parent workshop: Helping Your Child Learn. We’ll go over ways you can incorporate the practices into playtime, reading time, and everyday activities. Dinner and childcare will be provided.

Collection Spotlight: Lit Kits

March 1, 2017February 7, 2017 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

When you were growing up was there a subject that you were obsessed with? Perhaps you are a parent or caregiver and a little one in your life has a similar obsession. Maybe you want to teach your little ones about your favorite subject, or you are a teacher and want to introduce a subject or idea. We have a simple answer for all of this, we call them Lit Kits.

A Lit Kit is a box that includes a DVD, CD, book of related activities, picture books, and board books on a given topic. The collection of materials circulate in a blue storage box for the standard 28 day period, the same check out time as out regular books, CD’s, and audiobooks. They are the perfect solution for entertaining and teaching our youngsters. We currently have 40 Lit Kits in our collection, with plans for adding more. You can place holds on the kits if the subject you are looking for is checked out. Our Lit Kits are located on the bottom shelf of the book case that houses our Parenting collection. Our Lit Kits include: Firefighters, Babies, Birds, Apples, Winter, Shoes, Spring, Food, Sleeping, Chickens,Fish, Fish #2, Transportation, Wheels, Rain, Friends, Monsters, Frogs, Summer, Colors, Dinosaurs, Animals, Families, Nursery Rhymes, Circus, Clothing, Pizza, Teeth, Shapes, Monkeys, Cats, Fall/Autumn, Bears, Dogs, Princesses, Bugs, Farms, Sports, Beach, and All About Me.

We are planning on building more kits, so if you have a suggestion for a subject please share it here.

Collection Spotlight: Magazines for Children and Teens

January 30, 2017January 13, 2017 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Cheshire Public Library subscribes to a variety of magazine, both in print and digitally. Print Magazines for adults are kept on the lower level, and get a good amount of traffic. Our digital offerings via Zinio and Overdrive also get a good deal of use. However, I think people forget about the print magazines we carry for our children and young adult readers.

Our children’s magazines live on and end caps of the children’s chapter books shelves. Included with the children’s magazines are a few selections for parents and family reading. New items are on one side of the shelf and back issues are on the opposite end of the same shelf.

The young adult magazines are housed in the teen room in a corner by the bistro table and end of the manga collection. All magazines circulate for a two week loan period, but are renewable. If the issue you are looking for is not available a hold can be placed on it. Simply stop by any service desk or call to place a hold.

Our children’s magazine collection includes: LEGO Club Magazine, The Horn Book Magazine, Kids Discover, Chop Chop, National Geographic Kids, Discovery Girls, Girls’ Life, American Girl, Ladybug, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Zoobooks, Ask!: Arts and Sciences for Kids, Plays, Muse, Highlights Hello, Ranger Rick, Ranger Rick Jr, Boys’ Life, Brick Journal, Highlights for Children, and Cobblestone.

The magazines for parents and family include: Practical Homeschooling, Parents , and Family Fun.

Our young adult magazine collection includes: Game Informer Magazine: For Video Game Enthusiasts, Teen Vogue, Mad, Seventeen, J-14, and Twis t.

High Interest Books for Middle Grade Readers

January 19, 2017December 20, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

I have talked before about reluctant readers and transitional readers, particularly about finding books that can interest and engage them as they work to become more confident readers. (Check out the list here if this would apply to the books you are looking for). However, my kids are a little older now, so I have spent more time looking for the elusive perfect middle grade book to interest my high energy readers. They both love to read but only if the subject matter and action level meet their specific standards. I know this is a common issue since I have helped many a frustrated parent and child find something to read while working in the children’s room.

Why do I bring this up? Well, this week as I was unpacking a new order of children’s books I was thrilled to see a large number of books that fill this sweet spot of reads that would interest many middle grade readers. Right away I started mentally listing some of the best and realized how many zany, energy packed reads are available.

Here are some high interest, high humor, and high action reads for those who have trouble getting into a book, or who have convinced themselves that reading is boring. These are not readers who have trouble reading, only who are tired of being told what to read or have not found highly entertaining books and might have lost interest in books because of it.

Most of these suggestions are series starters or are by authors who consistently write this style of book, so if you find one that makes your reader happy they will have more to follow it up with.

The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier & Douglas Holgate

Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson

Home Sweet Motel by Chris Grabenstein

Marvin and the Moths by Matthew Holm and Jonathan Follet

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty

The Hero Revealed by William Boniface

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A. Spratt

Wonkenstein by Obert Skye

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

My Rotten Life by David Lubar

As usual, I found more books I wanted to include than can fit in a simple list, so more suggestions are: The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths, SPHDZ by Jon Scieszka, The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French, Herbert’s Wormhole by Peter Nelson and Rohitash Rao, Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka, The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke, Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick, Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis, My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O’Hara, The Odd Squad: Bully Bait by Michael Fry, The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, and The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson.