April marks a special time at Raising A Reader MA (RAR-MA) – the Week of the Young Child!
This annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a fun week that celebrates early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities. At RAR-MA, we also see this special week as an opportunity to build on the connection between parents/caregivers and young readers. To help, we provided daily posts with resources that could be used to make this week one filled with learning and fun.
Here’s a look at what each of the days looked like on our social media pages with the resources that were highlighted:
We are getting ready for the Week of the Young Child with members of RAR-MA’s Development Team! We asked Executive Director, Christine Ward, Director of Development, Angela Haynes, and Development & Communications Manager, Nina Norfleet, their favorite children’s book. What are your favorite books in your family? Have a conversation with your child and take turns learning about and reading each other’s favorite book!
Happy Music Monday of the Week of the Young Child! We asked our Program Manager, Community Ambassador and Family Engagement Lead, Claudia Chavarria, and several of our RAR-MA Community Ambassador caregiver volunteers to share their favorite nursery rhymes, poems, and/or songs. Remember, music helps develop a child’s brain, so sing loud, dance around, and have fun!
Happy Tasty Tuesday of the Week of the Young Child! Enjoy this classic RAR-MA storytime of “Pancakes for Breakfast” by Tommie dePaola.
Family meals are a unique time to connect with one another. It encourages turn-taking, listening to others, and expressing ideas, all of which are important social skills. Children learn how to participate in conversations, ask questions, and respond appropriately. What is your favorite meal to encourage conversations?
Happy Working Together Wednesday of the Week of the Young Child! Today, our Program Managers, Faten El-Gamal and Tatiana Keane Forero, will be reading the same pages from ‘Not Quite Snow White’ by Ashley Franklin. Faten and Tatiana show how versatile dialogic reading can be, even when reading the same pages. Discover the many ways to interact with a story by taking turns reading the same pages in a book with your child! Highlight any similarities and differences about your interactions and enjoy learning about each other’s reading styles.
Happy Artsy Thursday of the Week of the Young Child! Annie, RAR-MA’s Emerging Leaders Board Chair, loves getting into the creative spirit by doing crafts with her child. To celebrate spring, they made animals out of all natural items found while at the park. With the weather getting nicer and warmer, try making pictures out of natural materials with your little one to support science related creativity, knowledge, and spending time together in the great outdoors!
Happy Family Friday! On our final day of the Week of the Young Child, we would like to share with you one of our favorite resources – our Family Literacy Calendar! Our monthly calendar is filled with daily activities that build language rich environments. Today, it encourages families to play a sound guessing game: Have your child close their eyes while you make a familiar sound, like closing the door or sneezing. Ask the child to identify it. Take turns! Check out the calendar for more daily engaging activities.