(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Alessio85)

Do you know how do to keep your profile safe? Does your teen know the dangers of sharing too much information online? In these hands-on workshops, we will talk you through navigating privacy settings and more.

Workshops at Darien Library:

February 1st 10-11AM

February 3rd 3-4 PM

February 8th 10-11AM

February 9th 10-11AM

February 10th 7-8PM

February 11th 10-11AM

February 15th 7-8PM

February 16th 7-8PM

To sign up for these workshops, please contact Erica Leone, Teen Librarian at 203-669-5225 or via email at teenstaff@darienlibrary.org

To sign up for additional workshops at the YMCA, please contact Parent Awarness at 203- 655-2535 or parentawareness@ywcadariennorwalk.org

This program is co-sponsered by Darien Library and YWCA Parent Awareness, members of Thriving Youth; Connected Community.

"My son is a Level G.  Can you show me that section?"

"My daughter's teacher just informed us that Katie is between a I and a K.  How to I find books at her reading level?"

"Where do you keep your C books?"

These are questions that we children's librarians are asked almost every week.  Parents, caregivers, and children will frequently come to us with a Leveled Reading list or instructions from their teachers to find books on the Guided Reading scale (this method of reading instruction, also known as the Fountas and Pinnell system, uses a scale from A to Z to indicate increasing levels of book difficulty.)

Since public libraries are organized and arranged to facilitate browsing, searching, and to inspire a lifelong love of reading, you won't find our Children's Library organized by the A to Z levels.  So, how do you locate books that are appropriate for your child's reading level? 

Here are a few ways to find great books for your child:

1. Ask a Children's Librarian. 

We pride ourselves on knowing great children's literature and enjoy making recommendations.  We will usually begin by asking you or your child what kinds of books you've read recently and whether those books felt "just right" or not.  We can help you find similar titles, ones that are a little harder, or a little easier. 

2. Check out our F5 Learn to Read and/or our Kids I Read section. 

For children just learning to read on their own, a great place to browse is in our F5 Learn to Read area.  These books, also known as beginning readers, are designed to help newly emerging readers recognize common vocabulary, anticipate rhyming words, construct meaning through carefully placed illustrations, and build confidence. 

For children who are reading independently but not quite ready to delve into Harry Potter, check out our Kids I Read section.  Filled with popular chapter book series, these books help keep new readers engaged but not overwhelmed. 

3. Use the Five Finger Rule.

What is a level H or K or D anyway?  What does it mean?  It can be frustrating for both parents and children to locate books on their assigned Guided Reading level.  Oftentimes, the Guided Reading lists given to parents contain titles that are out of print or unavailable. 

One simple and effective way to judge whether any given book is too hard or too easy is The Five Finger Rule.  Here's how it works:

- Ask your child to start reading a page from the book.  Anytime they come to a word that they cannot pronounce or don't understand, hold up a finger.

- One finger means the book in question is probably too easy.

- Four or five fingers means the book in question is probably too hard.

- Two or three fingers means the book is probably JUST RIGHT.

Looking for more information on finding great books for your child?  Stop by the Children's Library anytime or contact us at childrenslibrary@darienlibrary.org. 

photo of child reading courtesy of Flickr user John-Morgan; photo of hand courtesy of Flickr user Phineas H.

Parenting technology series January through March 2011

Come to the 21 Things Kick-Off to learn more about the program and  meet other participants. 

Saturday, January 22, from Noon to 2 p.m.

Raising "digital natives" presents new challenges for parents.  Are you ready?

Darien Library presents a series of programs exploring the role of technology in the lives of kids and families.  Join us for film screenings, lectures, and hands-on learning opportunities for parents this winter.

Special thanks to YWCA Parent Awareness for co-sponsoring many of these programs.

January Programs

February Programs

March Programs

Kids and Teen Programs

this picture by flickr user bm.iphone

This multi-month series includes the 21 Things parenting program

Photo courtesy of flickr user YayAdrian

At the beginning of December, we launched a new service designed to keep you up-to-date on library events, services and news.  Text a Librarian Outbound Messages will allow you to receive text message updates from Darien Library.  Members may select to receive general Library news, news from the Teen Lounge, and/or news from the Children’s Library.

DLNews: Updates about Library events, services, materials and news.
DLTeen: Information about events, materials, and news from the Teen Lounge.
DLKids: Information from the Children’s Library about events, services, and materials of interest to parents and kids.

Text will be sent from each list weekly, highlighting a particular event, service, or Library news item that will be of interest to subscribers. 

A Pew Research Center report found that 85% of Americans now own mobile phones, a percentage that increases to 96% among 18-29 year olds, and a Nielsen survey found that American adults text twice as much as they talk on their mobile phones. We are eager to be able to connect with patrons on-the-go, and to be able to reach out with news alerts, reminders about upcoming events, and for suggestions for materials or services.  

These services supplement our existing Text-a-Librarian text message reference service:  By texting AskDL to 66746, our patrons are put in touch with a librarian who can answer questions by text message.

Darien Library does not charge for text services, but standard message and data rates apply. 

Join in the fun – come play and learn with us!  Register online or contact the Children's Library at childrenslibrary@darienlibrary.org or 203-669-5235.

November is National Adoption Month, a time set aside to raise awareness about children and teens in foster care.  Did you know there are over 115,000 children currently in foster care awaiting permanent placement? 

National Adoption Month goes back to 1976 when Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis announced the first Adoption Week.  The idea spread rapidly and in 1984 President Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week.  In 1995, President Clinton expanded it into the entire month of November.

In 2009, President Obama issued the following statement as part of the National Adoption Month Presidential Proclamation:

"All children deserve a safe, loving family to protect and care for them. In America, thousands of young people are waiting for that opportunity. During National Adoption Month, we honor those families that have strengthened America through adoption, and we recommit to reducing the number of children awaiting adoption into loving families.

America is a country rich in resources and filled with countless caring men and women who hope to adopt. These individuals come from all walks of life, united in their commitment to love a child who is in need of the protective arms of a parent. We must do more to ensure that adoption is a viable option for them. By continually opening up the doors to adoption, and supporting full equality in adoption laws for all American families, we allow more children to find the permanent homes they yearn for and deserve.

This month, we also focus on children in foster care. These children are not in the system by their own choosing, but are forced into it by unfortunate or tragic circumstances. These young people have specific needs and require unique support. Federal, State, and local governments, communities, and individuals all have a role to play in ensuring that foster children have the resources and encouragement they need to realize their hopes and dreams.

The course of our future will depend on what we do to help the next generation of Americans succeed. This month, we celebrate those families brought together by adoption and renew our commitments to children in the foster care system."

Check out the Darien Library's wonderful collection of picture books, informational books, and stories about adoption.  Stop by anytime this month to pick up Adoption booklists created by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

Stress Management: Caring for Ourselves, Empowering Our Children

Friday, November 12 at 11 a.m.

Experts and studies prove that no matter how busy we are, it is important to find ways to manage stress to maintain a healthy lifestyle and overall sense of well-being. This panel discussion will provide specific tips for reducing stress for ourselves while helping our children to develop healthy stress-management habits, as well.

Presented by representatives from The Child Guidance Center of Southern CT, Darien Youth Options, and Family Centers, this program is part of our Health & Wellness Series, “A Picture of Health.”

Presenting will be:

• Lindsay Grossman, Child Guidance Center of Southern CT
• Sophia Hughes, Darien Youth Options/Liberation Programs
• Ed Moran, Family Centers
• Heather Smith, Psychotherapist/Eating Disorder Specialist
• Marina Thomas, Person to Person

The Library's Health and Wellness Series is an extensive series of lectures, expert panels, computer workshops, and films. The schedule offers sessions on a variety of health issues, including nutrition, stress management, personal safety for children and teens, pain management, holistic medicine, sleep disorders, and medication management.

Author Nathan Dungan speaks to parents and teens...

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

7 p.m.

Community Room

In this highly interactive presentation, participants will:
• Discover new ways to talk and think about money among family members and between generations
• Develop a financial decision-making process that honors each person’s values
• Set clear financial goals that include saving and sharing
• Receive take-home tools to use with other family members, peers, etc.

Nathan Dungan is the founder and president of Share Save Spend®. For over 20 years, he has been an industry thought-leader on helping youth and adults link their money decisions to their values. He is the author of Prodigal Sons & Material Daughters: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM and his new book Money Sanity Solutions: Linking Money and Meaning comes out this fall.

Mr.Dungan's appearance at Darien Library is made possible by YWCA Parent Awareness and Darien Library. Darien Library and YWCA Parent Awareness are members of Thriving Youth: Connected  Community.

Teens vs. Tweens Monopoly Showdown

Saturday, November 13, 2010

2 p.m.

Conference Room

Will you rule Park Place or build an empire on Atlantic Avenue? Show off your financial wizardry in our first-ever Teens (12 and up) vs. Tweens (kids ages 10-12) Monopoly Showdown! No sign up, just drop-in.  This program takes place on National Gaming Day!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user mtsofan (Monopoly pieces)

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

These are the last two programs that were part of the Teaching Your Kids Financial Literacy series at the Library this Fall.

We are super pleased to invite Darien Teachers, Specialists, and Faculty to the Darien Library this fall! 

How do your students use the Library for assignments and book reports?

The Children's Librarians will showcase the Library's physical and virtual collections; highlighting the ins and outs of the Library website, and a tour of the Library.  

No sign up, just drop-in to one of the dates:

Thursdays @ 4 p.m.

-October 28

-November 18

school bus photo by flickr user 04deveni

The New York Times' recent article on baby talk and babbling confirms what generations of parents (and children's librarians) have know for years: those "ba ba" and "da da" utterances that babies make are more than simply adorable; they are the precursors to language development. 

According to one expert, infants begin by making squealing sounds without any identifiable syllables.  By the age of six months, babies (typically) start forming vowel sounds ("aaa"  "ooo") and with practice, consonant sounds ("mmm") by the end of their first year. 

An interesting takeaway from the NYTimes piece was this advice derived from the results of a recent study on language accquisition of babies:

"....if a baby looks at an apple and says, “Ba ba!” it’s better to respond by naming the apple than by guessing, for example, “Do you want your bottle?”  Offering new vocabulary words, even to children too young to form those words, helps strengthen their understanding of language and ability to name new objects. 

Perhaps the most important result of all these new studies on language development was the discovery that "Babies have to hear real language from real people to learn these skills."  There is something irreplacable about the face-to-face contact between a parent and a child that television, even educational programs, cannot duplicate. 

One of the best ways to facilitate this brain-building interaction is by sharing a book with your baby.  As Horn Book editor Martha Parravano so elequently states in A Family of Readers, "Despite all of our society's technological advances, it still just takes one child, one book, and one reader to create this unique space, to work this everyday magic."

Interested in learning more about early brain development?  Charlie Rose has a wonderful series of videos on the brain.  The Developing Brain video may be of particular interest to parents. 

incredibly adorable baby photo courtesy of Flickr user koka_sexton