Counting Down to Kindergarten: A Complete Guide to Creating a School Readiness Program for Your Community

With recent changes to curricula, it is more important than ever for children to enter school with basic literacy skills. This comprehensive guide walks librarians through the process of creating and running a summer community school readiness program for children entering kindergarten. The author provides an overview of child development and thoroughly explains the role of the public library in literacy development of early readers. Focusing on collaboration with families and teachers, this easy-to-follow guide allows seasoned and new librarians to successfully create an educational and entertaining program. Over the course of six weeks, children and families will be taken through progressive literacy activities that build upon one another. Singing, reading, and playing interactions among children, parents, and library staff teach concepts in a fun and informative way. Recommended print resources consists of classics as well as recently published books. Suggested art activities are cost effective and user friendly. As an added bonus, there is an online program calendar available as well as printable handouts to advertise and reinforce the program. Also included is a parent program, which allows library staff to train parents in literacy practices that support their child's learning. Every library could easily implement a school readiness program with the help of this guide.