The Patchogue-Medford Library is your source for preventing the summer slide from happening. Did you know that teachers spend an average of 4 to 6 weeks re-teaching material that students have lost due to the summer slide? Reading 4 to 5 books during the summer can help students prevent low reading scores in the fall. Reading throughout the summer helps to keep reading skills fresh. The Library has summer reading clubs for all ages, from babies and toddlers through adulthood. Students who participate in summer reading return to school ready to learn, improve their reading skills, enjoy reading more, and become more confident in their reading skills. The key to having fun with summer reading is for students to select materials that they are interested in. Books, magazines, audio books, and e-books all count as READING. Another way for students to get the most out of summer reading is to talk about the stories they are reading. They can share stories they like with their friends and family. These people can support students by helping them to make sense of anything that seems unclear.
Tell Me A Story
Storytelling is as simple as reading a story from a book. If you don’t have that much time, you can always share a story from memory, talk about your own childhood, or even read out loud from your phone. There are innumerable advantages of story telling for kids, especially for preschoolers, kindergarten and young children.
Explore the rewards of storytelling and how your family can engage in lively discussions about past stories.
What are some of the benefits of storytelling for kids?
— Instills virtues in your child
— Makes them aware of their own culture and roots
— Enhances verbal proficiency
— Improves listening skills
— A great tool for sharpening memories
— Encourages creativity and imagination power
–Broadens horizon
— Makes academic learning easier
— Better communication
— Helps to face difficult situations with ease
For more information, please check out the
following link: http://momjunction.com/articles
Top Image Credit: www.designpm.com/5-storytelling-tips/
College and Career Counselor at the Carnegie Library
Attention High Schoolers and Parents:
Need help with college planning? Or do you need career counseling on what to do after high school? Planning for your future after high school can be a difficult and confusing process for many. Thinking about what college you’d like to apply to or what career field you should choose can be overwhelming, but we have some relief for you! Come meet with our College and Career Counselor at the Carnegie Library to help answer any questions you may have. The purpose of a college and career counselor is to help students make more informed decisions to better their futures in both educational and career choices. This can include guidance on choosing courses in high school to prepare for college or advice on occupational training opportunities. 
College Access and Career Counselors are also a great resource who can help you with:
- Finding the best-fit school for you
- With personalized admission strategies
- Applying for financial aid
- Filling out college applications
- Choosing high school courses that will work towards your intended major
- Career training
- And much more!
This service is geared towards students in grades 8-12, who want to know the necessary steps to take in each grade to be fully prepared for their college or career training. The earlier you make these decisions, the more prepared you’ll be for your future.
To make an appointment you can register online, by calling the Carnegie library at 631-438-3290 (2:30-8:30pm), or you can drop in to ask questions.
Upcoming dates include Tuesdays, February 28, March 7, and 21 from 6-8pm. Check our upcoming newsletter for more dates.
El Desarrollo del Lenguaje
“Para que los niños tener éxito en la escuela, deben tener un lengua rico (vocabulario), donde los adultos se comunican bien, eschucar y leer en voz alta todos los días.”
Ernest L. Boyer, 1991
Nuestro departmento de niños y servicios de padres en la biblioteca Patchogue – Medford
ofrecen los siguente programas:
Bilingual Rhyme Time – para niños de 2- 35 meses
Games for Ones – para niños de 12 – 23 meses
Games for Twos – para la niños de 24-35 meses
Baby Games – para la niños de 3 – 11 meses
Parachute Play – para las niños 18 – 35 meses
Introducción a la lengua de los bebés está hecha inicialmente por los padres/cuidadores. Deben escuchar un idioma de forma coherente con el fin de aprender vocabulario. Al escuchar las palabras hechas diariamente por todos los miembros de un hogar, así como los demás, aprende a comunicarse. En este proceso, los niños aprenderán cómo utilizar sonidos, palabras y frases para informar a sus emociones a sus miembros de la familia, así como los demás. El vocabulario de un niño crecerá a una velocidad increíble, sobre todo en el premier año a partir del desarrollo físico.
Summer Reading Tips for Your Children
The summer is a great opportunity to read formats that we normally do not have the time to read throughout the school year. Check out the magazines at our library and discover titles that will appeal to children of all ages. Look at National Geographic Kids, Highlights, Sports Illustrated for Kids, and American Girls.
Read the newspaper together. Show your child the different categories in the paper: international, national, city and sports. Read to them the opening paragraph and let them know what is happening around the world. Many newspapers have a science and a historical section that may be of interest to everybody. Keep a map nearby and show them where the countries are located. Come to the library and take out books about a particular country and learn their customs, language and food. Follow a simple recipe together and discover a new culinary delight.
The paperback section at our library has several paperback series for younger and older children. Many children like reading a series because they can follow the same characters on their adventures in different stories. They are located downstairs where children have easy access to the collection and have a chance to sit in comfy chairs. You can share the readings together at the beach or at the pool especially after lunch when you have wait several minutes before going back into the water. Some series include: Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Go Girl series and Goosebumps.
Register for your library’s summer reading challenge. Have your child challenge themselves to see how many books they can read this summer. Adults can also join the summer reading programs and have everyone gather together especially at the end of the day after dinner to read. Take turns reading out loud from the youngest to the oldest. Change your voice to reflect the different characters in the story. Laugh, giggle and have lots of fun. It is this time together that will become memorable!
Have a book swap party any time during the summer. Do you have a gently used book that you are willing to swap with one of your friends? You could have a wonderful book discussion party at someone’s home or at the park! I know which book I want to discuss. See you soon at the library!
Image : http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/literacy/centers/1centersbooks.htm
Start reading to your kids early with the ‘Read Me Into Kindergarten’ program
Patchogue-Medford Library’s newest reading program is designed to give kids a jump-start into books. Photo courtesy of Kim Morales.
It’s never too early to show kids everything they can learn from books. Patchogue-Medford Library’s “Read Me Into Kindergarten” program can help parents set up a reading program for young children from infant to pre-school age.
The goal of the program is for parents to read 250 books to their kids before starting Kindergarten. While the number may sound ambitious at first glance, Children’s Librarian Nancy Senzamici says it breaks down to less than a book per day when starting a year before entering elementary school.
“Really it boils down to spending a few minutes a day cuddling and reading with your child so that reading is a positive experience and they are learning along the way,” Senzamici said of the program, which she organizes.
To begin the program, a child first needs to get set up with a Patchogue-Medford Library card. Then, they can head downstairs to the Children’s Department with a parent or guardian, where they can sign up for the program. Families will receive a book guideline, a picture book bibliography, their first page of a reading log and a tote bag for taking books back and forth to the library.
There are no set books, so kids are free to take home and read whatever interests them from the shelves of Patchogue-Medford Library. As kids record the books they read on a reading log, they can earn stickers and prizes throughout the journey to 250 books.
Also, as kids proceed through the program, librarians will be able to use the titles listed in the logs as suggestions to other families in case they need help picking books to read.
Anyone with questions on the program can visit the Children’s Department on the lower level of the Patchogue-Medford Library or call the library at 631-654-4700.
Families that Play Together, Learn Together!
Looking for something new and fun for you and your child to do at the Library?
Maybe you’d like to slip in a little something educational too?
Why not come down to Children’s and Parents’ Services and play one of our Money for Life games together with you child? Not only will you have some family fun but you will also learn about spending, sharing and saving money and your child will begin to learn basic financial principals.
We have many games and activities for children of varied ages available at the CAPS Desk with a Library card. We will hold your Library card while you have some fun playing one of our board games during your visit at the Library.
Black History Month
Come and celebrate Black History Month by checking out
the following titles and more in the lower level of the
Children’s and Parent’s Services Department.
Register for our Children’s program, “Celebrate Black
History Month – Stories and Crafts starting Friday,
January 29th. The program will be held on Friday,
February 5th for all ages, from 7 -8 pm.
This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt J PICTURE EHRHARDT
Tar Beach by Faith Ringold J PICTURE RINGOLD
Louie by Ezra Jack Keats J PICTURE KEATS
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats J PICTURE KEATS
Jazz by Christopher Myers J PICTURE MYERS
Heart and Soul – The Story of America and African Americans
J 973.0496 NEL
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco J PROFESSIONAL PICTURE
POLACCO
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson J PICTURE WOODSON
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson J PICTURE WOODSON
When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat
By Muriel Harris Weinstein J PICTURE WEINSTEIN
by Jeanette Winter J PICTURE WINTER
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes
By Juan Felipe Herrera
Paintings by Raúl Colón
A 2015 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book
“This visually stunning book showcases twenty Hispanic American men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the arts, politics, science, humanitarianism, and athletics. Since our nation’s founding, individuals whose roots are in the Spanish-speaking countries have contributed immeasurably to the rich diversity that is America’s melting pot. Chronicled here are their struggles and triumphs – what they faced and overcame on their way to great accomplishments. ” *
Mr. Herrera’s book is a wonderful introduction to read about how twenty famous people played major roles in America’s history. Some of the biographies include:
- Desi Arnaz
- César Estrada Chávez
- Dolores Huerta
- Rita Moreno
- Roberto Clemente
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Ellen Ochoa
An honorable mention was given to Victoria Soto – a twenty–seven year old first grade teacher who shielded her students during the Newtown school shooting on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.
Come and join us on Sunday, October 18th from 1-4 pm to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, at the Roe Walkway located next to Patchogue-Medford Library. In case of rain, the event will be held inside at the lower level of the library on the same date. Look for more details soon.
*From the book’s blurb – Dial Books for Young Readers
An imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Bringing History Alive
The summer is an excellent time to try out a new genre. Check out a historical fiction and a non-fiction book along the same time period from our library. This will give you the opportunity to compare how accurate the details are in the fiction book. You will also find that most authors will let the reader know in the appendix whether their story is based on actual facts, whether they have changed historical information, places and/or characters.
One of my favorite children’s authors, AVI, has written several historical books. In the book, Iron Thunder, Tom Carroll, a thirteen year old boy, becomes an assistant on the Monitor, one of the two ironclads used in the Civil War. AVI and his descriptive passages made me feel as if I was actually participating in a high sea battle with the Monitor and the Merrimac.
Next time you are having dinner with your family start a conversation about history and pass on your new knowledge. Who knows what other information your family and friends can share with you! Our librarians are more than happy to assist you with your special historical selections.
Some Recommendations:
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery
By Steve Sheinkin YA B ARNOLD
Sophia’s War: A Tale of Revolution By Avi J FICTION AVI
Kasper the Titanic Cat By Michael Morpurg
J FICTION MORPURGO
Titanic: disaster at sea by Philip Wilkinson
J 910.9163 WIL