Mind Readers: Thinking Out Loud Can Raise Children’s Comprehension Skills |...
It’s toddler storytime: let the rumpus begin! Toddlers bound quickly into the room. One hurdles mom’s legs while waiting for the opening song. Some hop, others roam, and a few practically climb our...
View ArticleThe Neglected Ones: Children of undocumented immigrants seldom receive the...
These days the news is full of polarizing stories about undocumented immigrants. Rarely do we hear about the 4.5 million children born each year in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents....
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Why Offer Black Storytime? | First Steps
Photo courtesy of Jupiterimages Imagine that while interviewing for a library job you’re asked, “What would storytime specifically for African-American families look like to you?” That’s what happened...
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The Pleasure Principle: Children (and grown-ups) tend to do what’s most fun |...
First Steps began almost nine years ago, in February of 2004. Our first column was about the importance of having fun, because we believed that fun was a key element in any discussion of early...
View ArticleA Running Start: We’re excited about the latest programs for very young...
It’s good to begin the New Year with enthusiasm. Here at Multnomah County Library we’re excited about several things. First, and perhaps most importantly, we’re looking forward to being successful at...
View ArticleGive Them a Big Hand: Puppets are great motivators for children who are...
One of the most surprising early literacy questions we’ve encountered is about puppets. It came from a youth librarian whose director insisted that he couldn’t see how using puppets “has any value...
View ArticlePlay It Again | First Steps
Play produces children who are emotionally healthy and ready for school A quote from George Bernard Shaw hangs in our office, guiding our daily interactions: “We don’t quit playing because we grow old;...
View ArticleA Little DAP Will Do Ya | First Steps
An often ignored concept is the key to successful programming Best practice to a youth librarian is using lots of songs in storytimes for babies and repeating them each week. Best practice is choosing...
View ArticleIt’s Showtime! | First Steps
There’s one preschool program that parents can’t resist Our colleague Yvonne has two passions—storytelling and young children. Meeting with 20 children twice a week for a month, Yvonne transforms a...
View ArticleSomething to Smile About: A Statewide Early Literacy Program Is Making a Big...
As our communities face serious economic challenges, it’s easy to focus solely on the dire news of the day: dwindling budgets, programs at risk. So, now more than ever, it’s important to appreciate the...
View ArticleModel Behavior: Children (and Adults) Often Learn Best by Seeing and Doing |...
Children (and adults) often learn best by seeing and doing Watching our Commander-in-Chief read Where the Wild Things Are (HarperCollins, 1964) at the White House Easter Egg Roll gave us chills, even...
View ArticleReady, Set, Go! Storytime Can Help Children (and Parents) Become...
On these early autumn days, in communities big and small, kindergarteners are stuffing backpacks with colored markers, glue sticks, tissues, and sometimes a favorite book or stuffed animal. Getting...
View ArticleNatural-Born Scientists: Children’s curiosity about the world begins at birth...
After seven months of inescapable rain here in Oregon, the warm sun has emerged and blossoms have burst forth. Nature’s reawakening leaves us wondering how the dogwoods and magnolias can triumph over...
View ArticleThe Amazing Brain: Babies start learning to read the day they’re born | First...
How exactly does early brain development relate to reading? That’s what our clients want to know. Many of them aren’t interested in hearing about neurons and synapses, but they find the basic concepts...
View ArticleIt’s Never Too Early: Parents should talk to their young ones long before...
The young woman sitting alone near the front of the MAX train car was speaking passionately, presumably to a friend on a cellphone. Nothing new—we overhear all sorts of conversations these days. But...
View ArticleHave You Heard the Word?: National Poetry Month is a great time to share the...
Our evening walks around Portland are even more delightful these days as more and more neighbors have added poetry posts to their yards. Poetry posts, you ask? They are simple wooden poles, kind of...
View ArticleA Happy Ending | First Steps
Outcomes-based evaluations help us define what we’re trying to accomplish Spring is the time of year when we ask our early childhood community partners to help us measure the effectiveness of our...
View ArticleThe Power of Words | First Steps
How librarians can help close the vocabulary gap We’ve never forgotten a story that Micki Freeny, coordinator of youth services at the District of Columbia Public Library, told us about her daughter....
View ArticleGet Ready, Get Set… | First Steps
In a perfect world, every child would enter kindergarten happy, healthy, and eager to learn. They’d run into their classrooms anxious to see friends and already in love with their teachers. But it’s...
View ArticleWhen Trauma Hits Home: Did you know that infants are the largest single group...
One of the most startling things we learned this year is that 48.6 percent of trauma victims in our state of Oregon are younger than six years old. And infants make up the largest single group of...
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