This fall, on crisp afternoons when I pick up my daughter from daycare, she often will look out the window and proclaim, “Mommy, today looks like a good day for the park!” I usually agree, wanting to squeeze all we can from the few beautiful days left before winter sets in.
Last week as we pulled away from daycare, I looked out the window at the gray, cold, almost-dark air outside and sighed. Now what? The slides will be cold, it’ll be dark soon, and the leaves on the ground are still damp from yesterday’s rain. Lucky for me, I have a very smart, adaptable daughter who answered that question for me. “Mommy, today looks like a good day for . . . the library!”
Yes, it was a perfect day for the library. A perfect day to be snuggled up on a cozy child-sized couch with a stack of new-to-us books to explore. A perfect day to find answers to some of those burning questions that have been buzzing around our house, like, “Why do some deer have no antlers?” and “What do ants eat?” A perfect day to grab a November library calendar and find new activities and adventures for the chilly afternoons that await us.
Not only is the library a regular weekly stop for us to rotate new books into our collection, it’s also a great resource for literacy-related activities and events. November is Family Literacy Month in Massachusetts, and local libraries are putting together calendars filled with opportunities for families to enjoy storytelling, read-alouds, sing-alongs, and more. Visit your local library (or library website) today for a calendar of fun, free Family Literacy Month activities to participate in with your children. And maybe you can start a new weekly routines!
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Megan Gregory is a doctoral student in Literacy and Language at Boston University’s School of Education with a focus on young students reading informational text. She currently works as a reading specialist in the Scituate Public Schools and has also taught first and second grade. To contact Megan to learn more about her work email [email protected].