1000 Books Before Kindergarten
By Amber Urich, Youth Services Librarian, Winnetka-Northfield Library District
1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a national early literacy program designed to encourage families and caregivers to read 1,000 books to their children before kindergarten. The Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District is supporting the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative and encouraging all families, both library patrons and community members, to join in!
Why does early literacy matter?
Learning to read begins long before a child enters kindergarten. Reading to your children is one of the best ways to prepare them to enter school. While reading 1,000 books may seem like a lot, in as little as 15 minutes a day, families can build the skills for future success in school and life. If you read one book a day, that’s 365 books in one year, 730 books in two years, and 1,095 in 3 years! Most children start kindergarten around the age of 5 so this challenge can be done at any pace that feels right for your family!
Reading early and often builds the foundation for academic success, but it invites many other important skills as well including imagination, creativity, language skills, empathy, problem solving, and of course a lifelong love for reading.
Tips for Supporting Your Child and Reading 1000 Books Before Kindergarten
Have fun! Bring out your inner actor by changing voices, making sound effects, using body language, and most importantly have fun yourself.
Incorporate reading into your daily routine in whatever way looks best for your family. Before bed, after breakfast, after lunch, or in the car are all great places to start. It’s also okay to skip a day!
Welcome repetition as an important part of your child’s reading journey. Every child has a favorite story, song, rhyme, etc. and that should be encouraged! When children experience repetition it comes with a number of benefits including word recognition, pattern awareness, fluency, comprehension, confidence, and emotional support. While it may be challenging to keep reading the same story over and over, remember that it’s often due to the same reasons why adults gravitate towards watching the same tv shows or movies over and over. Repeats always count towards 1000 Books!
Consider incorporating audiobooks into your child’s reading routine. Contrary to some lingering popular belief, audiobooks are not “cheating” but in fact an excellent tool to support reading at any age. Children can often listen to a higher reading level than they can read independently, which helps to build reading skills like comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and more. Audiobooks can also help your child read independently when a reading partner is not available as well as help a wiggly child read more. Kids can draw, run laps, build LEGOS, etc. all while listening to an audiobook. Audiobooks are accessible from the library in many forms: Playaways, VOX Books, Libby eaudiobooks, and hoopla eaudiobooks, to name a few options.
Logging Your Reading Habit
Parents and caregivers can easily keep track of the total amount of books read using our cheerful reading logs and can stop by the library for every 100 books read to collect a sticker and small prize. Whether a Winnetka patron or not, everyone interested is encouraged to sign up for the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library’s 1000 Books program either in person or through the library's website.
Other early literacy materials and events at the Winnetka and Northfield Libraries
Play Learn Grow Early Literacy Backpacks: Early Literacy Kits are themed kits designed for pre-readers and focus on developing literacy skills through sharing concepts like words, rhymes, sounds, songs, and more. Each kit contains books, games, toys, and more, as well as songs and rhymes all based on the five best practices to help a child get ready to learn: Reading, Talking, Singing, Playing, and Writing. Available only for Winnetka-Northfield cardholders.
VOX Books: Vox Books are a combination print book with the audiobook attached to the inside cover of the book. This collection is very popular with our pre-k readers to work on reading independently. The collection has recently grown to include beginning chapter books and middle grade titles so your child can easily grow within the collection. Available for everyone.
Erasable workbooks: Kids can practice letter writing, tracing, cursive, STEM concepts, math and more with these reusable and easy to clean workbooks. Each one has a variety of activities that help to explore new skills and to practice and build upon already existing skills.
Stop by the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Party: Tuesday, September 26 at 4pm at Winnetka Public Library, 768 Oak Street, Winnetka.
Whether you are about to start our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, are already reading, or have finished 1000 books, join us to celebrate our reading journeys with a party! For new readers, we will provide information about the program and can help you register.
Youth Librarian Recommendations:
Goodnight, Baby introduces simple bedtime routines while teaching toddlers how to say "good night" in English, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, German, Swahili, Navajo, Russian, sign language, Hindi, Portuguese, Japanese, and Italian.
Bear With Me is a wordless picture book about a little girl who learns to cope when she is asked to leave her beloved stuffed animal at home.
Witch and Wombat follows Wilma, a young witch, who cannot wait to get her very first cat! But when the pet store is fresh out of kittens, Wilma brings home... a wombat?! What a CAT-astrophe! A wombat is nothing like a cat, but maybe if Wilma puts cat ears on the little critter, no one will notice...
The Red Jacket is about a sad seagull named Bob. One day he’s given a red jacket and soon his life changes. This is a delightful story of finding self-confidence and friends—and then paying it forward.
Cupcake Catastrophe follows friends Chi-Chi and Pey-Pey who are excited when they get cupcakes at snack time, but there is only one cupcake that has purple frosting—and they both want it! Can they find a way to share before they’re left with nothing but crumbs? When these two work together, anything is possible.
Amber Urich is a Youth Services Librarian at the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District where she runs Sensory Shenanigans and manages the Early Literacy Collection among many other things. She loves to connect with the community and foster literacy through play and exploration.