Kids Blog

Forget the Flashcards! Try Homework Help Now

Flashcards are a tried and true method for learning facts. Flipping over cards to confirm your knowledge is great study tool, but how much more engaging and fun would learning be if you could practice the facts you’ve learned with interactive games? The Homework Help Now database offers the opportunity to memorize what you’ve learned with fun activities:  

Graphic Novels ARE "Real" Books!

I see it nearly every day at my branch. A child approaches me to request the latest Big Nate or Zelda and their grownup says “No, I want you to read a real book.” Cue disappointed wah wah sound effect and sometimes tears.  Despite what might have been presented in the past to parents, studies repeatedly demonstrate that Comics (or Graphic Novels if you prefer) have great benefits to children, including but not limited to the following:

Santa Through the Ages

Have you ever wondered about the origins of Santa Claus? Father Winter? St. Nick? How about how Santa is portrayed now vs. how he was portrayed in the 1800s? Feel free to take a gander at the Pop Culture Database, which is available through the TCCL website: tulsalibrary.org under the Research tab.

FREE Play! (Good for the Brain, Good for Your Wallet!)

Toys with lights and sounds can draw your little one’s attention quickly, but if you want the most bang for your buck, you need a toy promotes open-ended play (play that allows your child to make the rules). The best toys for those are found around your home and they are free of cost! 

Why is Phonics Important? Simple Ways to Boost Phonics in Young Readers

I don’t remember the minutiae of learning to read, but the word phonics instantly transports me back to my first grade classroom in the early eighties and many mornings working in those red phonics workbooks.

Let's Eat (and Read) Around the World for Thanksgiving!

Armies may run on their stomachs, but so do kids getting ready to read! Connecting literacy and language with food is a tried and true way to make kids happy while teaching them valuable literacy lessons.

Rhyme Time! Best Books for Rhyming

The ability to identify and produce rhyming words is an important foundational reading skill. Rhyming can also be silly and fun! Parents and caregivers can help children develop this skill by reading high-quality rhyming picture books to children, starting at birth. Many picture books feature rhyming as part of the text, but I would like to share with you some of my favorites that I have enjoyed reading to my own children and to my library storytime friends.

Cloudy With a Chance of Vocabulary!

Vocabulary is literally the name of the game when it comes to boosting children’s language and literacy development! The more words children know, the more they will learn about the world, which in turn will help with later reading comprehension. 

Fluency Matters! What is reading fluency & how can my kid get it?

What is “fluency” when referring to a child reading? If you’ve ever asked a child to read to you and the child. Reads. The. Words. One. At. A. Time. In. A. Monotone. Voice. And then couldn’t tell you what they just read, you know what reading fluency isn’t. Fluency is reading with accuracy, rate, comprehension, and prosody, which is a fancy word for expression.

What Happened on October 20…in 2016, 2011, 1971, or 1921? Find Out!

A lot has happened over the past 100 years to say the least.