About Storytime Mom -- the Mom and the Blog

As a child I loved the library and books.

As a librarian, I fell in love with books all over again and wanted to share them with everyone.

As a new Mom, I am learning first hand how busy life can be with a baby.

My hope for this blog is to share with you books, songs, and activities that you can do with your child. They are meant to be fun and easy.

Doing little things every day will create memories for your children, and instill a love of reading and learning.

I called my blog "Storytime Mom" because that is what I am. As a librarian, I conducted storytimes as a fun way to interact with children and get them excited about reading and learning. As a Mom, I continue to do those things with my own daughter. But I am here to encourage you that YOU can be a storytime Mom or Dad (or Aunt, or Grandfather...), too.

Storytimes at your library are fantastic experiences for you and your children. Take advantage of these free activities. Engage in them with your children. Interact with them and model for them.

At home, in the car, at the park, at the grocery store, wherever you are, take the opportunity to engage your children with literacy-rich activities.

As parents we are our children's first teachers. We have an awesome responsibility to give them the building blocks for learning. Please don't take this as another way to be overwhelmed or pressured. We are their first teachers, but unless we actually are teachers, it is not our job to teach children to read. It is our job to foster reading readiness and partner with teachers.

I want my child to be able to happily communicate. I want her to love books, reading, learning and exploring. I want to give her the best foundation possible, but I don't want to pressure her into reading before she is ready.

By engaging in early literacy activities --really just reading, singing, talking, playing and writing-- in developmentally appropriate ways, we give our children the foundation and building blocks for their future. But more importantly we create fun and meaningful memories to last a lifetime.

I hope this blog will give you some ideas on how to incorporate early literacy practices into your busy lives. Thanks for sharing this journey with us.