One of our goals at the Aurora Public Library is to promote early literacy among our community, whether it is by having Parent’s Corners at all three locations with valuable resources to help parents, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative that offers a self-paced program, or our popular storytimes! Each storytime is designed to specifically meet the needs of the ages in mind and include songs, activities, and social time. Our storytimes are not only tailored for the age group, but designed for parents to be able to practice at home.
Sign language is a great example, and we hope everyone can join us for our Signing Storytimes the week of August 26, available at all our locations. Sign language is an effective tool to help children communicate before they are ready to talk. For many parents it can help them understand their children’s basic needs from wanting to eat, needing more of something, or simply showing their appreciation and saying thank you.
Andrea Tiberi, children’s assistant at Eola Road Branch said, “I’ve always been interested in sign language and taught a few signs to my own babies to help them communicate. For over a year now I’ve been doing some sign language in my regular storytimes and families seem to be enjoying it so I thought this would be a fun program to offer.”
This storytime will feature commonly used signs for children including “more”, “milk,” and even “mom” and “dad” to help you start communicating with your little one at home. Don’t worry, if you want to continue practicing the signs you learned at home or if you want to learn more, Miss Andrea will provide a handout with signs you can practice on your own.
In addition, there will be interactive common songs which you will learn the signs to, including the Alphabet Song and the More We Get Together. The best part about this storytime is that it’s open to all ages and available at all locations. Signing Storytime will begin at the Santori Library, downtown, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26 in the Storytime Room, followed by West Branch from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, and will conclude from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 30 at the Eola Road Branch, large meeting room.
For those who are looking for more early literacy initiatives, including storytimes, they should check out our website aurorapubliclibrary.org for our monthly storytime calendar.
Miriam Meza-Gotto is communications manager for Aurora Public Library.