Darien Land Trust in cooperation with Darien Nature Center invite the public to a free viewing of Play Again, an award-winning documentary directed by Tonje Hessen Schei. At a time when children spend more time in the virtual world than in the natural world, "Play Again" unplugs a group of media-savvy teens and takes them on their first wilderness adventure. Through the voices of children and leading experts, "Play Again" investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature and encourages action for a sustainable future.

The film will be shown on Monday, November 1, in the Community Room of the Darien Library, 1441 Post Rd., Darien. The program is slated to run from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit www.playagainfilm.com.

Showing Monday at 2 p.m.

Special Health & Wellness Film Screening!

Monday, October 18th at 2 p.m. Just Add SPICE: Parenting for Happy, Healthy Kids

Follow four families as they attempt to instill healthy habits in their kids by using a set of proven positive parenting skills represented by the acronym SPICE (Structure, Praise, Inspire, Consistency, and Enjoy) - including how to deal with children who refuse to eat healthy foods and turn to sedentary forms of entertainment. This documentary is not rated. Running time is 90 minutes.  (2010).

This special film screening is part of our Health & Wellness Series, “A Picture of Health,” 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.

To watch a preview of the documentary, please click here.

For the complete schedule of our Health & Wellness Series, click here.

 A new article in the New York Times, Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children, suggests that the picture book is slowly going the way of the dinosaur.  According the to article, parents are increasingly encouraging their children, as early as kindergarten, to read "big kid" chapter books in order to help their children in an ever-competitive educational environment.  As a result, bookstores are stocking less picture books and publishers are offering less new picture books each season.

I'm curious if the NYTimes' Julie Bosman has visited her local library recently.  I wish she could stop by our Children's Library here in Darien.  She might be quite surprised at the extraordinary number of parents and caregivers curling up with a picture book in one of the big comfy chairs, or on the carpet, or at the puzzle table, or over a hot chocolate by the Cafe.  Her eyes might well pop when she notices the foot-high stacks of picture books that moms and dads routinely check out for their children (of all ages).  

We Children's Librarians know the power of a great picture book.  Using picture books is  staple in our baby and toddler programs.  But did you know that we also use them in our preschool and elementary-aged storytimes?  

The picture book is a unique work of art.  Combining text, illustration, and design elements, a good picture book does more than simply tell a good story.  Picture books can teach and engage a child's understanding of visual literacy (a skill that this new generation of digital natives will absolutely require to be successful in both academia and professional life.)  

Parents invited to be Mystery Readers in their child's classroom often ask us for read-aloud suggestions.  Whether they are visiting a first-grade class or a fifth-grade class, can you guess what kinds of books we nearly always offer?  We even have a special section in the Children's Library filled with picture books specifically for older students.  These gorgeously illustrated works may look thin, but are full of rich themes, well-developed characters, history, and humor.  Perfect for older children who are reading independently.

Graduating from being a pre-reader to an independent reader doesn't have to mean the end of enjoying books with artwork.  Chapter books and picture books can live happily together on a child's bookshelf.  Whether it's revisiting favorite picture books to read again or discovering a new crop of more sophisticated illustrated reading choices, independent readers will flourish when encouraged to read variety of books.  

Stop by the Children's Library soon with your reader and tell us about some of your favorite picture books and let us help you find some new favorites, too.  

photo courtesy of Flickr user John-Morgan

Paying for College and the Teen Debt Crisis with author Jill Russo Foster

October 14th at 7 PM - Conference Room

 
This program is for parents and teens. Jill Russo Foster, author of "Cash, Credit, and Your Finances: The Teen Years," will cover the two biggest sources of teen debt: college tuition and credit cards. You'll learn about different funding options such as: student loans, FAFSA, financial aid, work study programs, and more. Jill will help you teach your teens financial management so they'll be ready for life at college and beyond.

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

Hey Darien teachers, are you familiar with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills? It is a national organization that advocates for 21st Century readiness for every student. There are lots of tools and resources avaialble on their website.

Right now they are hosting a series of online conversations, presentations, videos and more - all free! Sessions will be held through October 5th and are free for all to participate. There are sessions on Project Based Learning, Information Literacy, Education for Elementary & Middle School age students and more!  If you can't make one of the live sessions, don't worry. They will be recorded and shared on the website for you to go back to. If you are able to check some of them out, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Post a comment, ask a question, share an idea!

Register on the website

Are we creating a generation of young people who have unsustainable spending habits? We know that young adults can have exceptional levels of credit card debt. How can you, as parents, help teach your child Financial Literacy?

Financial Literacy can be taught from a very early age and can come in many forms.  Darien Library is here to help you, help your kids. Use your Library card as a training ground for teaching credit.  We've put together a series of programs that explore fiscal responsibility for kids, teens and parents this fall. Come and join us September to December 2010.

For further reading, see our resource list of Library materials tagged with "kids and money."

The Programs:

For Parents - kids + money

For Parents and Teens - Paying for College and the Teen Debt Crisis

For Children - Counting Coins

For Parents - Family, Money and Habits - Nathan Dungan, author*

For Teens & Children - Tweens vs. Teens Monopoly Showdown

*Mr.Dungan's appearance at Darien Library is made possible by Grammery Advisors, YWCA Parent Awareness and Darien Library.

kids + money - Film screening and discussion

September 16th 7 PM - Community Room

What do teens really think about money? In this documentary, filmmaker Lauren Greenfield goes straight to the source and asks them. After the film, join us for a discussion about how money can play an influential role in their development (with Lauren Pote of Child Guidance, Darien).

*Special Sessions added November 4th 10:30 AM & 7:00 PM

After the 7 PM screening of the film, please join us for a discussion about how money can play an influential role in their development, with Larry Rosenberg, Ph. D of Child Guidance Center of Southern CT.

Paying for College and the Teen Debt Crisis

October 14th 7 PM - Conference Room

This program is for parents and teens. Jill Russo Foster, author of “Cash, Credit, and Your Finances: The Teen Years,” will cover the two biggest sources of teen debt: college tuition and credit cards. You'll learn about different funding options such as: student loans, FAFSA, financial aid, work study programs, and more. Jill will help you teach your teens financial management so they'll be ready for life at college and beyond.

Counting Coins

October 19th 4:15 PM & December 8th  4:15 PM - Children’s Program Room

It’s 1880 and here comes the Wells Fargo horse-drawn wagon! Using interactive activities based on the historical experiences of the great American Express trade, this program introduces kids to money and finance - how to distinguish between needs and wants and how to build savings.
For children ages 5-8; sign up by calling or emailing the Children’s Library (203) 669-5235 childrenslibrary@darienlibrary.org
This program is made possible by Wachovia Bank, Darien Branch

Family, Money and Habits - Nathan Dungan

November 10th 7 PM - 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 Grammery Advisors, YWCA Parent Awareness and Darien Library. Darien Library and YWCA Parent Awareness are members of Thriving Youth: Connected  Community.

Teens vs. Tweens Monopoly Showdown

November 13th 2 PM - Conference Room

Will you rule Park Place or build an empire on Atlantic Avenue? Show off your financial wizardry in our first-ever Tweens (kids ages 10-12) vs. Teens (12 and up) Monopoly Showdown! No sign up necessary. Just drop-in!

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

Photos courtesy of Flickr Users - Ken Wilcox (clear piggy bank), All In Green (pink piggy bank), mtsofan (Monopoly pieces)

Getting kids excited about reading is all about find that "just right" book. 

The Children's Librarians LOVE to help kids and parents find great new books to read.  You can stop in anytime for a personal consultation.  You can also check out our Online Booklists. 

Looking for even more book recommendations? 

Here are a bunch of great book websites for kids:

Which book is missing from the series? :-) Picture by awinn233

Question:  Every wondered what book 26 is in the Geronimo Stilton series? 

Answer:  The Mummy with No Name

An easy place to find the answer is right here. 

A library in Missouri has organized tons of series!  It's pretty awesome; it contains over 29,000 children's books.

You can also use the database Novelist.  Find children's books similar to other books, their descriptions, and reviews of them too.  Have your library card handy.

Getting kids excited about reading is all about find that "just right" book. 

The Children's Librarians LOVE to help kids and parents find great new books to read.  You can stop in anytime for a personal consultation.  You can also check out our Online Booklists. 

Looking for even more book recommendations? 

Here are a bunch of great book websites for kids:

As a parent, do you:

• Worry that you are not doing enough?
• Struggle with embarrassing issues?
• Seek ways to reduce power struggles?
• Want to do everything you can to be
 an effective and competent parent?

Parents of boys and girls in 3rd and 4th grades are invited to join this monthly Parent Discussion Group held in at Darien Library. Using the Raising Our Sons and Raising Our Daughters Parenting Guides you will meet monthly with parents of children of the same age and gender to help prepare you and your children for the tween and teen years.

June 30, 2010 - April 13, 2011

Wednesday evenings, 7:00 pm

Darien Library is a member of Thriving Youth: Connected Community, an initiative of the Darien Human Services Planning Council for developmental asset building through meaningful relationships, experiences, skills and opportunities that benefit all our children. Thriving Youth: Connected Community is a movement in Darien to address the needs of our young people which were brought to light in the Fall when the Search Institute conducted the 40 Developmental Assets survey in our Middle and High Schools. If you missed the results when they were announced you can still view the presentation as a pdf here.

To see the list of Developmental Assets that will be discussed in this series, click here.

Space is limited - to register for this program, sign up by calling (203) 669-5235 or email childrenslibrary@darienlibrary.org