One Book program highlights importance of early literacy

DESCRIPTIONS

Now in its 13th year, One Book, Every Young Child is a valuable statewide program that highlights the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers and the significance of reading early and often to children, as well as engaging them in conversation and other activities around books.

One Book, Every Young Child emphasizes what families can do to stimulate and support their child’s early literacy development. Most importantly, read together every day! Set up a comfortable place to snuggle and read. The act of being close together adds another positive feeling to reading. Give different voices to characters, and use sound effects. Ask open-ended questions while you read. Reading the same book multiple times may seem boring; however, children enjoy feeling smart because they know what is coming next. Talk, write, read, play and sing together. These five practices are key elements of early literacy. If you find an author or illustrator that you like, read more books by them. Make sure your child sees you reading for pleasure. Read all day long. Read signs that you see in stores. Read labels on food. Look for activities that extend upon the themes, characters and plotlines of books. These activities help children build their knowledge base and enjoyment.

Each year for One Book, Every Young Child, one title is identified for preschoolers and families around the state to discover, enjoy and explore. Pennsylvania’s One Book, Every Young Child 2018 selection is “My Cousin Momo.” Written and illustrated by Zachariah OHora, the book was published in 2015 by Dial Books and is for preschool-age children.

Families with children between the ages of 3 and 5 (and their younger and older siblings) are invited to attend a program at the William Jeanes Memorial Library to celebrate “My Cousin Momo.” The program, which will be held on Wednesday, May 2, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., will include a reading of the book and a number of Momorelated extension and enrichment activities. Each family in attendance will receive a free copy of the book to take home. Additionally, several family passes (free general admission for four) to Longwood Gardens will be raffled off. We hope you will join us! Please register at jeaneslibrary.org.

One Book, Every Young Child is made possible through a collaboration of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, The Carnegie Sci- ence Center, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children and The Pennsylvania Child Care Association. This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. The program being held at the library is sponsored in part by the Friends of the William Jeanes Memorial Library. Rachel Fecho is the children’s librarian at the William Jeanes Memorial Library and Nicholas and Athena Karabots Center for Learning, which is located at 4051 Joshua Road, Lafayette Hill, and serves Whitemarsh Township and the surrounding communities. If you have any questions about the library’s children’s services, please visit jeaneslibrary.org or call 610-828-0441 ext. 104 to speak with Fecho. computing skills.

The class lesson plans have stood the test of time. Every season, library instructors improve upon them by adding content and making explanations clearer. The entire collection of lesson plans and class resources is available for free online at www.mcnpl.org/class-resources.

All interested persons are invited to visit the computer lab, where they can pick up the class schedule and interview with the instructors to determine which class would best suit their needs.

Classes are taught using desktop computers equipped with the Windows 10 operating system and Microsoft Office 2016 software. Each class holds up to 12 students. All classes except Computer Basics require students to demonstrate basic computer literacy before registration. Registrations must be done in person in the computer lab. Class fees must be paid at time of registration and cost between $10 and $15. All students must have a library card that is in good standing in order to attend class.

For returning students, our computer lab has recently acquired brand new computers equipped with Microsoft Windows 10 operating system. Due to the user interface differences between our current and new computers, we require returning students to register and pass the Computer Basics course or successfully complete and pass the pre-requisite test.

The Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library is located at 1001 Powell Street, Norristown. For more information, call the Computer Lab at (610) 278-5100 ext. 141.

Internet

May 1 p.m. May 4 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Learn how to enter web addresses, use navigation tools, perform simple searches, create favorites, print, and more, using the Mozilla Firefox web browser. 5:30p.m. – 7:30

File Management

Tuesdays, May 8 & 15 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Fridays, May 11 & 18 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Learn to use File Explorer to organize and manage your files and folders. Learn the difference between Save and Save As, create folders, move files, delete and rename files, and more.

Microsoft Word

Tuesdays, May 22, 29 & June 5 5:30p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Fridays, May 25, June 1 & 8 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Learn basic word processing skills with Microsoft’s word processing program. Learn how to use the ribbon, create and save documents, print documents, highlight and format text, insert tables, insert headers and footers, use spelling and grammar check, and more.

Microsoft Excel

Tuesdays, June 12, 19, & 26 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Fridays, June 15, 22 & June 29 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This course provides an introduction to Microsoft’s spreadsheet program. Learn how to use it for managing numbers and equations, such as with budgets. Topics include formulas, charts, sorting, conditional formatting, and printing.