Our Early Literacy Corner
A few weeks ago, Cory Eckert of Storytime Underground fame shared a quote on Facebook from Earlier Is Easier about how important repetition is in a child’s life:
Repetition is a key ingredient to building a healthy brain. When your child asks for the same book, activity or outfit again and again, this is really just their brain demanding what it needs– lots of repetition to help cement those learning pathways!
Earlier Is Easier
Her post rocked my mind for two reasons: 1. I hadn’t been aware of Earlier Is Easier – and dang if this isn’t a super-de-duper resource for parents/caretakers of young ones, and 2. THE COMPLAINT ABOUT AND DENIAL OF CHECKING SOMETHING OUT AGAIN BY PARENTS HAPPENS WAY TOO OFTEN.
Ahem.
But seriously, I’d say at least once-a-week I hear a parent or grandparent refuse to re-check something out that the child so desperately wants to rewatch or reread. If I get a chance to, then I try and gently mention that repetition is important and valuable to children.
I shared this quote with my library team, and we brainstormed a way to share it with our community. We always have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how best to use our tiny space, which can be fun, but also a big challenge. Ashlynn was the one who finally came up with the idea of using the back side of our computer carols. It wasn’t until after I put up the display that I realized that it was literally an “early literacy corner.” Heh.
Check it out:
This is a close-up on the pamphlet holders because people are always unsure of whether or not they can take something – be it a pamphlet or a book on display.
And it won’t always be the same tip on each side – I just really wanted to mimic repetition to really send the concept home. All that I used was some looped scotch tape, and then contact paper to put up those signs and pamphlet holders.
Hopefully this inspires you to look at unexpected locations for early literacy tips. Like maybe on paper towel dispensers:
All I did was print out early literacy tips (that used to be on Storytime Underground’s site) on card stock and laminate them before sticking them up with packing tape. Yay for fast and easy! I swap these signs out about once every month or so.
Please feel free to share any of the ways that you get important information out to your community – either by sharing on social media, or sending me an email at hafuboti.com. I’d love to hear/see them!
