Miss Jaymi and The Final Goodybye

      So this is it, the final goodbye.  For those of you who don't know, I have decided to take a job at IU Health Morgan Hospital.  Its closer to home, a short commute, a new direction in life.  This change means many things for me.  It means new people, new experiences, and a new adventure.  It means a chance to learn a new field (Public Relations) and ultimately it means a chance to grow.  It also mean venturing into the unknown! SCARY!

The new place of employment, IU Health Morgan.

     The past three years at MPL have been filled with good times and great people.  When I started at MPL I never thought I would be able to accomplish all the things I have while also learning so much about myself.  When I came to MPL, we had a vision for early literacy and the importance we wanted it to have within the Mooresville Community.  I am so lucky that I was given this program and told to tackle it however I saw fit.  My creative juices started flowing and through a lot of hard work, determination, and word-of-mouth, Story Time programs at MPL spread like WILDFIRE!

I will miss this place.

     MPL went from three weekly early literacy programs in June of 2009 to nine weekly programs by August of 2012.  Besides Baby Time, 2s and 3s Time, Story Time, and Pajama Time, we have created partnerships with Mrs. Bungard at Neil Armstrong, Ms. Mosier and Children's Park, Mrs. Tiley at Waverly Elementary, The Jackson Center, Children's Christian Playhouse, The Preschool, Mooresville Head Start, and the list could go on.  We have offered special programming for Super Heros, Fancy Nancy, "If You Give" books, Teddy Bear Sleepovers, Mother-Daughter Tea Parties, Bubble Lab, Water Lab, Archeology Lab, Music Lab, and Campfire Tales.  We actually started a Baby Summer Reading program that other libraries across the state are starting to emulate! I have had the opportunity to attend Mother Goose on the Loose, CYPD, PLA, and ECRR.  When you spell it all out, boy was I busy!  But truthfully, I wouldn't have traded any of those experiences or relationships for the world!

Baby Time. 

Halloween 2s and 3s Time.

Story Time.

Fancy Nancy Tea-Party! Oooo La La!

Teddy Bear Sleepover.

Super Hero Party.

Bubble Lab.

Archaeology Lab.

Music Lab

Kinder Corner, Thanksgiving Pitch-In.

Water Lab.

Children's Park.

     I have said it numerous times, but I will say it again, the Mooresville Public Library is a GREAT place to work. MPL is a place filled with people who are kind, compassionate, caring, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, creative, and are truly invested in the needs of the community.  I am blessed to have worked in a place that has allowed me to flourish while also giving me an opportunity to find who and what I want to be.  Trust me when I say that leaving MPL was not an easy decision.  There are so many people I am going to miss at MPL, but none more than my Story Time kids.

Suzanne and I with our "Where the Wild Things" cut-outs.

     The children of my Story Time classes have truly touched my heart and I can honestly say I will never forget them.  Children like Elijah, who is the only kid to have attended all three stages of my classes to Brody, my little wild man!  Gabby with her enthusiastic outlook on EVERYTHING to Adalyn and her love of stuffed animals.  I have seen Emery go from being a big sister not once, but twice!  Then there are those that moved away, like Ella and Duncan, that I haven't forgotten.  Anna, Jill, Jack, Kalyn, Madison, Chelsea, Cody, Tucker, Sarah, Isaiah, and Joshua successfully completed my attempt at enhancing their Kindergarten experience through Kinder Corner, and boy did we all learn a lot through that one!  And, in true Story Time fashion, here is my valid attempt to list as many kids as I can remember, to not only "make it fair" but for my personal recollection as well.

Tate, Taylor, Ryleigh, Molly, Maddie, Avery, Rockford, Jensyn, Paul, Jacob, Willow, Bradley, Drew, Derek, Hudson, Sawyer, Ben, Jack, Joslyn, Carrie, Kane, Sally, Veronica, Brody, Elijah, Kalyn, Vivian, Cooper, Jesse, Patrick,  Madison, Parker, Kallie, Chelsea, Kendall, Abigail, Oliver, Emma, Harper, Scarlett, Henry, Arianna,  Melissa, Tait, Julian, Harrison, Carly, Allison, Malachi, Shaylee, Emma, Caraline, Kera, Wyatt, Emery, Ella, Maggie, Alaina, Sheldon, Lydia, Julia, Annabelle, Ashlyn, Dax, Kate, Carson, Truett, Gabby, Adalyn, Zane, Ryan, Katelyn, Jill, Azalia, Jack, Brendan, McKenzie, Anna, Allie, Evan, Ethan, Silas, Meike, Peyton, Arralynne, Jackson, Trey, Addison, Sarah, Maelyn, Cody, Faith, Izzy, Quinn, Rayah, Calvin, Elliott, Amara, Sydney, Vince, Adam, Noah, Nicholas, Lily, Lincoln, Aubrey, Elenai, Colton, Amelia, Stephan, Laney, Owen, Kennedy, Aaron, Zoe, Wren, Alec, Ezra, Ezekial, Jolie, Evie, Alice, Bastian, Ryder, David, Kaylee, Ava, Lacey, Sadie, Madeline, Wade, Connor, Scott, Colin, Ruby, Carter, Grayson, Amylia, Bella, Isaiah, Tyler, Sophia, Zach, Rebecca, Gracie, Sammy, Dylan, Logan, Jamie, Larissa, Lynnsey, Genevieve, Maren, Brooklyn, Leila, Landin, Lucas, Nolan, Jillian... and I am sure there are more.

(I will probably keep adding to this list as I remember more!)

And one more, because I can.

     The time has come to close out on my last post as the owner of the Explore to Learn: Early Literacy blog.  What started as a way for MPL to connect with parents and other libraries quickly turned into a place for me to collect memories.  At the end of each week, I looked forward to being able to get it all out and hope that someone, somewhere, was able to use it.  In closing, I simply ask one thing.  Give the new Early Literacy Assistant as the MPL a chance.  

Remember, give the "New Miss Jaymi" a chance.

     I have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into creating an educational and fun early literacy program at MPL, and it is my hope that the new assistant is able to take all of the things I have accomplished, and do MUCH MUCH MORE!  As we all know, the little children of today, are the doctors, teachers, nurses, lawyers, police officers, firefighters, ballerinas, astronauts and anything else you can think, of tomorrow.  And in my (humble) opinion, it all starts with EARLY LITERACY!
     This isn't goodbye.. just a see you later!  And in the words of one of my favorite movies, "You've got a friend in me."

Summer Reading 2012 is HERE!

     SUMMER READING IS HERE!  From newborns to adults, there is a summer reading program for everyone at the Mooresville Public Library!  Interested in getting involved in a reading program or event?  Visit our website at www.mooresvillelib.org or give us a call at 317-831-7323!

Last Day... Fun Day!

    So this is it!  The last day!  I always look forward to the last Story Time of the year for many reasons.  The biggest reason that I love the last Story Time of the year is that it is the most fun class of the year! 

     I always try to do a food craft on the last class of the year.  I NEVER tackle food crafts due to all of the allergies out there.  It is really hard to foresee every possible allergy, so I usually stay away from food.  However, this time, I decided to do bread painting.  Never heard of it, me neither!  I found it online and knew it was perfect!  All it takes is white or wheat bread, food coloring, and milk.  Mix the food coloring with the milk, give the kids a paint brush, and let them paint the bread!  I also brought my toaster oven so that we could have toast! So fun, so easy, and pretty good in terms of allergies.   

     The other fun craft we made was a pinwheel!  We have made pinwheels at the library in the past, but I have always been too nervous to try them with 4-6 year olds.  I found a simple and easy pinwheel on Pinterest that I knew we could accomplish!  You can find it here.  The kids loved it and felt like they had accomplished something once it was complete!  And let’s be honest, it’s pretty stinking cute!  **Note: The picture below is not the pinwheels we created.  To see mine, watch the video! :)

     When it’s the last day, I don’t really care if my book choice matches the theme.  I like to pick fun books that might make the kids laugh.  Interactive books are great as are books that make the kids think.  I chose The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds because it has a great message.  If you haven’t read it, you should!  Every small child should read this book some time in their life.  It is uplifting and encouraging for any aspiring young artist.

     I also chose to read This is the Teacher by Rhonda Gowler Greene.  Not only did I think my kids would really enjoy this book, I also could commiserate with the poor teacher.  I was right, though.  The kids thought this book was hilarious!

     That’s it!  We made it!  The last Story Time has come and gone and now it’s time to get ready for summer!  Summer Story Times are a bit different than those during the year, but don’t worry, I will definitely be blogging our extra special projects!  Stay tuned!

Z is for... Zebras and Zinnias!

     Are you ready for the last alphabet post?!  It’s been a long time in the making, but we finally made it to the letter Z!  Hooray!

     Ok, I will admit it.  I took the easy route with Zz and with zebra! There are lots of great zebra books and I wanted something a bit easier for my kids to be able to complete with little help!  Thus, without further ado… the letter Zz!

 

Materials:  Index card with capital z, black crayon, zebra head, google eye, and glue stick.

Front of card

Back of card

1)    Use the black crayon to draw stripes on the capital letter Z.

2)    Trace the upper and lower case Zz on the back of the card.

3)    Glue the zebra head on the Z and add the google eye.

     By now I am sure you all know what comes next.  The 2^nd craft for my four to six year olds, of course.  I really struggled with this.  Finally, I found a cute zinnia craft.  I know zinnia is a bit unexpected for Z, but it gave me an opportunity to introduce the kids to a new word while also being able to celebrate spring!  Hooray!  Click here to get the instructions on how to make this zinnia.  Warning:  you will have to scroll down a bit on the website to see this craft.

     As for my book selection this week, like I said previously, there are a ton of good books about zebras.  Though, unbeknownst to me, I actually revisited a zebra book from a series that I had previously read.  In October, we read a ghost book about a zebra named Zee.  Guess what, that’s actually the title of this week’s book, Zee by Michel Gay.   Both the children and their parents enjoyed this great little story about a zebra who is trying his absolute hardest to get his parents to wake up.  I don’t want to ruin the story, but let’s just say that Zee gets into all kinds of trouble when he decides that coffee is the only way to wake them up!

     I thought that finding a book to go with my zinnia craft would be difficult, however, it really wasn’t.  Eve Bunting authored the book, The Flower Garden, which discussed a little girl who lives in an inner city.  The little girl and her father are created a birthday present for her mother.  Of course, the book involves a flower garden with zinnias, but that is all I am going to say.  If you want to figure out how I the world a girl can plant a garden in the inner city, you are just going to have to pick it up and read it yourself!

     Slowly but surely I am getting caught up!  It’s nice though, to be officially done with the alphabet!  The kids enjoyed doing it, I thought it was really fun and educational, and the parents appreciated a craft that didn’t clutter their houses every week.  Stay tuned for my next post when I show all of the pictures of the alphabet crafts in order!

Y is for... Yellow and Yarn!

     Still playing catch up over here at Explore to Learn.  This week, we tackle the letter Y.  I know I say this almost every week, but for some reason, I struggled with Yy.  I thought about yak (which I am sure my kids have NO IDEA what that is) as well as yo-yo, but ended up going VERY simple.  Yellow!  I love the color yellow and my library has so many yellow stickers that I thought it would be fun and simple!

Materials:  Index card with capital Y, yellow crayon, and yellow stickers.

Front of card

Back of card

 

1)    Color the capital Y yellow.

2)    Trace the upper and lower case Yy on the back of the card.

3)    Stick the yellow stickers on the letter Y.

 

     As usual, my 4-6 year olds made a second craft.  As I was just relegating myself to the fact that I was going to have to do something with a yo-yo, I came across yarn in our crafting closet!  Perfect, right?  Thus, I took some craft stick, glued them together to make a picture frame, and decided we were going to work on our fine motor skills via yarn wrapping.  Needless to say, it took my kids forever and with their short attention spans, they were not happy with the craft. Oh well, I was happy they at least tried it out.  Most of my kids took home half-finished (like my own, below) frames to complete at home.  You win some, you lose some!

 

     The first book we read this week was all about colors.  Kitten Red, Yellow, Blue by Peter Catalanotto is a great book to not only discuss various colors but occupations as well.  My kids really enjoyed this book because they were able to shout out many of the colors and occupations, while also learning new colors such as teal and chartreuse.  It is definitely a cute book and a great read-aloud.

     Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett went spectacularly with my yarn theme.  Although this book is quite long, it definitely lends itself to being cut down a bit.  I did omit a couple of pages without losing any of the story.  The kids were able to follow along and understand that the little girl had a magic box of yarn.  They enjoyed guessing who the little girl might sew a sweater for next.

 

     I promised last week I would present a new song.  Well, if you haven’t heard of the amazingness that is Jim Gill, let me be the first to introduce you to his music.  My kids love his upbeat music and “The Color Game” is no exception.

     Ok, I have done it!  I have gotten two blog posts up in the same day!  I am making up some ground for sure!  Tune in again soon to see if I can get to Z.  Thanks!

W is for.. Watermelon and Watches!

     The past couple weeks in Indiana have felt like summer!  Yes, we wake up and it’s a bit chilly, but by lunch time, it’s been between 70 and 80 degrees outside and I LOVE it!  Although I am a Hoosier through and through, I can’t stand Indiana weather so it was nice to get a mild winter and unseasonably warm temperatures early in spring.  With all of this summer-like weather, it was easy to use watermelon for our letter craft this week.  When it gets warm outside, nice, cool, refreshing watermelon is what I crave!

Materials:  Index card with capital W, green crayon, pink W cut from paper, watermelon seeds, and a glue stick.

Front of card

Back of card

1)    Color the capital W green.

2)    Trace the upper and lower case Ww on the back of the card.

3)    Glue the pink W on the inside of the green W.

4)    Glue seeds to pink W to make it look like a watermelon.

     As for our second craft, well, my library recently came across our old die cut machine in the basement.  Apparently everyone knew it was down there but me!  I found the cutest watch die-cut and decided it would be quick and easy to create.  When you are making 24 of anything, you definitely want to keep in mind the process of creating as well as the intended outcome.  This craft was the best of both world and I thought the kids would really like it! 

All from a die cut machine!

     This is the part where I always delve into my book choices and how easy or difficult they were to find.  This week, I didn’t choose the first book, Miss Suzanne did!  I was a little under the weather (rotten sinus infection) and called in sick!  Like a champ, Miss Suzanne stepped in for me and did my Monday programs.  The book she chose was Watermelon Day by Kathy Appelt.  After discussing this choice with Miss Suzanne, and reading it myself on Tuesday and Wednesday, we each decided it was a little too long and needed to be shortened for the attention spans of our listeners.  This was actually REALLY easy to do with this book without losing any of the important content.  Miss Suzanne did also say that it was difficult to find a good watermelon book! HINT HINT… authors and publishers... get on this!

     I thought a book on watches would be easy to find.  Instead of watches, most of the books at my library were about clocks!  So I went with it when I found a great book by John Archambault entitled, Boom Chick Rock.  This book is great.  The beat is great.  The mentioning of dances, including the Electric Slide, the Tango, and the Bunny Hop, is great! And the pictures are great!  Can you tell I really liked this book?  My kids also like being able to participate in the reading of the book when the line “Everybody rock! Around the room! Boom chicka rock, chicka rock, chicka boom!” came about.  The more times we read this line, the louder it got!

     I also want to take just a moment to brag about my good friend Carolyn Mueller, and this seems like the perfect place to do it!  My roommate Carolyn is going to be a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!  That's right.. a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!  When she told me about a month ago, I felt like a proud mom.  I was there with her senior year of college when she would hole herself up in her room for hours on end working on her senior writing thesis.  She worked so hard and I am so happy that it is soon to pay off.  So why am I just now blogging about her book?  Well, not only does it come out next month and you can pre-order it here, but my library just purchased it!  I have no idea what a dwarf zebu is, but I am super excited to get it and perhaps have it signed?  Don't worry, I definitely plan on reading it in my Story Time class sometime soon so we can all find out exactly what this mysterious animal may be!

     I didn’t introduce any new and fun music this week.  Like I mentioned, due to my missing of Monday, I didn’t have time to throw anything new together and I like to keep all of my classes on the same schedule.  I did, however, add an old favorite to my Story Time classes.  It’s another alphabet song, but this time you use a bean bag to act out the different letters.  The song, “Bean Bag Alphabet Rag,” by Hap Palmer, is an old favorite and I can’t believe I have put it on my YouTube channel before now!  I hope you enjoy it as much as my kids do!

     That seems to be all for this week.  I can’t believe we are almost to the end of our Alphabet Adventure.  It seems like yesterday that I started this blog.  Although I have a great craft for next week and the letter Xx, I am struggling a bit with Yy.  There is the norm of yo-yo, but if you have any other ideas, let me know!  I am a bit desperate at this point! Thanks and tune in next week when I give a little shout out to my mom!