Honored.

Earlier this week a tweet came across my feed saying that my blog, along with several others (including my awesome friends Kendra, Melissa and Brooke), was mentioned in a School Library Journal article as one of the best early learning blogs.

WHAT. *cue happy dance*

See this kitty? I’m as happy as this kitty. 

Well, color me tickled pink. I am SUPREMELY, OVERWHELMINGLY honored to have been mentioned along with these folks I admire so much. The author of the article, Lisa G. Kropp, whom I would hereby like to virtually hug, said that my blog offers inspriation for those who think they can’t “do” early literacy.

Gosh, I sure do hope so. I think her assessment may primarily be based on this post, which is fine with me, as I really loved writing that one and it’s a topic close to my heart. Sharing the message of early literacy/early learning is something I am indeed passionate about, and I DO believe that everyone, librarians and non-, can advocate for. It’s such a straightforward idea – brains are forming and growing most between birth and age 5, and so it makes sense that early experiences are going to have an impact on how that brain develops. And, as we say here in Colorado, Earlier is Easier when it comes to learning. How simple is that? We learn throughout our lives, but learning “sticks” most and best when we are very young and our brains are building.

Librarians who work with young children: we ARE experts. We CAN and DO help parents help their children learn. Simply by being a caring adult in a child’s life who gets excited about the books they’re borrowing from the library you’re helping to develop a love of reading and motivating a young child to become a reader. Simply by modeling a fingerplay in storytime you’re helping the child build their fine motor skills. And when the parent and child repeat that activity at home, that skill is growing. Because YOU modeled it. Simply by clapping the beat to a song you’re helping the child learn to break words into smaller sounds and hear and rhymes, and when that child is using those skills to sound out words when they’re reading on their own – know that YOU helped with that. YOU made a difference.

I admit I haven’t posted much recently, but perhaps the honor of being included in such illustrious company will motivate me to write more. I’ve got some ideas percolating – one, especially, about executive function skills and what the experts are saying about how those relate to future success (and how we foster them in storytime!). I’ll get on that right away, I promise.

Meanwhile, DFTBA. Because you ARE. And thank you!