Follow the journey of families while they complete the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge. Parents/caregivers pledge to read to their children about colors, shapes, animals, cars, nature and adventure with the goal that one day their children will be reading to them.

Focusing on adult patrons ages 19 through senior citizens, this book explains how libraries can best serve this portion of their community's population at different life stages and foster experiences that are "worth the trip"—whether actual or virtual. Adult library patrons are busier than ever before—working, taking classes and studying for advanced degrees, caring for children, helping their aging parents, taking care of their homes or rental properties, planning and nurturing careers, managing investments and retirement funds, and inevitably retiring. Each of these endeavors can require highly specific learning and education. Throughout their lives, adults continue to have different information needs that the library and its services can fill. Designing Adult Services: Strategies for Better Serving Your Community discusses the many ways libraries can serve adults of various ages and at different life stages, covering online services, collection development, programming, and lifelong learning. This guide's unique approach simplifies the processes of designing and carrying out a successful adult services program for adult library users in all the various stages of life. The book is organized by age groups, with the respective information needs and life challenges. Each chapter suggests programs, services, and collection development strategies for the life stages. Public library administrators and managers as well as adult services librarians in public libraries will find this guide a must-read.

The opportunity to become a parent is truly a gift. When we step into one of the most challenging and important roles we will ever play, we are provided with the opportunity to unwrap this precious gift and create an amazing adult. In a comprehensive reference manual, Dr. Shanon Gibson relies on her experience as a seasoned teacher, educational entrepreneur, and infant/toddler developmental specialist to share strategies and insight for parents, educators, counselors, and caregivers that encourage positive early childhood experiences and the development of a whole person to achieve ideal lifelong outcomes. Dr. Gibson provides valuable information on the latest research findings, the growth of a child’s brain, developmental milestones related to a child’s birth gender, and concrete methods to change negative behaviors, build resilience, limit screen time and technology, teach social skills, and much more. Additionally, Dr. Gibson defines sensory processing and the eight sensory systems to help caregivers understand the uniqueness of every child and then successfully parent around it. The Gift of Parenting is a compassionate guide to unwrapping a child’s potential during early development to ensure the creation of a happy, productive adult.

"Arkansas-based photographers Sabine Schmidt and Don House examine several libraries that serve some of their state's smallest communities. Through vibrant images and personal essays, they document how public libraries address numerous local needs"--

There’s no need to spend hours trying to come up with creative programming ideas—bestselling library activity guru Kroski has already done all the hard work for you! Largely drawn from contributions by library workers across the country, this e-book is a cornucopia of ready-to-go activities, easily accessible resources, and adaptable tools for inspiring countless fun and engaging programs at your library. Best of all, these exciting low cost/no-cost library programs can be implemented using only free resources. Offering a broad selection of ideas for adults, tweens, and younger children that can be tailored to a variety of contexts, inside this sourcebook you’ll discover seniors and older adult programming resources on such topics as genealogy, financial literacy, lifelong learning, gardening, and health and wellness; career, ESL/literacy, and "just for fun" programs and book clubs perfect for adults; young adult programming resources such as the Book to Action toolkit, YALSA’s Teen Programming Guidelines, literacy and educational resources, computers and coding activities, live action roleplaying games (LARPS), and many more; free resources to teach financial responsibility to toddlers, lesson plans from NASA, resources to host an Earth Day event incorporating a “free trees for kids” program, StoryWalks and more ideas for children; makerspace, STEM, and art programming resources; Pinterest boards, idea lists, writing prompts, coloring pages, free books, and passive programming downloadables and printables; information about more than two dozen grant opportunities for funding programs; and planning templates, marketing tips, assessment resources, and tools for brainstorming and productivity.

A comprehensive guide to designing homeschool curriculum, from one of the country’s foremost homeschooling experts—now revised and updated! Homeschooling can be a tremendous gift to your children—a personalized educational experience tailored to each kid’s interests, abilities, and learning styles. But what to teach, and when, and how? Especially for first-time homeschoolers, the prospect of tackling an annual curriculum can be daunting. In Home Learning Year by Year, Rebecca Rupp presents comprehensive plans from preschool through high school, covering integral subjects for each grade, with lists of topics commonly presented at each level, recommended resource and reading lists, and suggestions for creative alternative options and approaches. Included, along with all the educational basics, are techniques and resources for teaching everything from philosophy to engineering, as well as suggestions for dealing with such sensitive topics as sex education. Now revised throughout with all-new updates featuring the most effective and up-to-date methods and reading guides to homeschool your child at all ages, Home Learning Year by Year continues to be the definitive book for the homeschooling parent.

An unapologetic critique of major flaws in the American education system. David Michael Slater’s We’re Doing It Wrong is a thought-provoking dissection of the issues plaguing American public schools. Each chapter identifies a major problem in the education system, exploring its roots and repercussions. A teacher himself, Slater opens up and gives readers an insider’s perspective on topics that have been at the center of ongoing debates as well as recent hot button issues, such as: Standardized testing Teacher evaluation practices Helicopter parents Class size Poverty’s effect on performance Anti-bullying programs Writing proficiency Curriculum goals Slater explains why our current approaches simply aren’t working—for students, for teachers, for the colleges that these students may eventually attend, and for society at-large. Unafraid to ruffle a few feathers, We’re Doing It Wrong highlights defects in policy and theory, calls out administration, and questions long-held beliefs. Every chapter concludes with a suggestion for improvement, offering light at the end of the tunnel. Administrators, teachers, and concerned parents will come away with a better understanding of the current state of education and ideas for moving toward progress—for themselves and for the students they support.

Multiliteracies and Early Years Innovation: Perspectives from Finland and Beyond brings together internationally renowned scholars to investigate and reflect upon the significance of introducing multiliteracies in the education of children (0–8 years old) and the challenge of enhancing professional development opportunities of early years practitioners. The book brings together curriculum innovation and reform and the changing media ecology of young children's learning lives in a single volume. It provides insights into Finnish early years education in terms of policy, practice, and research with a specific focus on the enhancement of children’s multiliteracies. Case studies from around the world explore co-developing practices between researchers and teachers, the development of communities and the ways in which different classroom interventions draw on new kinds of teacher knowledge. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students with an interest in early years education, literacy education, the sociology of digital culture, school reform, teacher education, and comparative education.

This book offers 101 passive programming ideas that are extendable, adaptable, customizable, and above all, stealable-so your passive programming never runs dry. Passive programming is a cheap, quick, fun way to make all library customers feel like part of the community. It can support reading initiatives, foster family engagement, encourage visit frequency, and coax interaction out of library lurkers-while barely making a dent in your programming budget. Passive programming can be targeted at children, teens, adults, or seniors; used to augment existing programs; and executed in places where staff-led programming can't reach. It can be light-footed, spontaneous, and easily deployed to reflect and respond to current news, media, library events, and even the weather. But even passive programming pros run out of ideas sometimes, and when that happens, they want a fresh, funny source of inspiration.

Caregiver involvement is key to a child's reading success story, and libraries are in the perfect position to provide the guidance needed for parents and caregivers to embrace their role as their children's first and most enduring teachers. Libraries offer many programs and services for children, but sometimes caregivers are left out of the equation, especially once children start school. Nevertheless, parents and caregivers are an integral part of literacy development, and libraries are a great place for them to witness modeling practices and participate in engaging family programs that encourage early literacy. Mary Schreiber combines personal experience and professional research with the programming expertise of youth librarians from across the country in this guide for libraries looking to make an even greater impact on the level of literacy attained by the children they serve. In Partnering with Parents, readers will find a wealth of information on how to talk to caregivers about the different stages of a child's reading life, what books to recommend to excite both caregivers and children about reading, and ways to encourage parent and caregiver participation in library programming, with additional information on working with and providing programming for diverse families. Whether you are a veteran in the profession or brand new to working with families, you will find something in this book that will help you to make your library a more integral part of the education community.