Hello,
At Straftord all students from TK to 5th grade are allowed to check out a
book as long as they don't have an overdue book. The kinders can check out
any age-appropriate book. The teachers will sometimes require the books to
stay in the classroom. At times this can be frustrating since we feel that
taking home a book and then bringing it back on time can be a great lesson
in responsibility. We started a program a few years ago that rewards each
class if all of the students return the books on time. This positive based
program has reduced lost and overdue books tremendously.
I hope your update to the school's policy is successful.
Keira
On Mon, Aug 6, 2018 at 5:44 PM Jenny <jenny_andrus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
At Live Oak, kindergartners don’t check books out to go home. They check
books out to go to the classroom and return them the following week. They
still experience the joy associated with picking a book, checking it out,
and returning it. I agree that it would be a mistake to limit their choices
to just easy readers. I actually start the year by exploring the picture
book section and focusing just on those books. We slowly move into other
areas as the year progresses — nonfiction, graphic novels, early readers,
etc. but I really push the picture books because there is so much to
explore just in that area. It seems that children (and parents) want to
move onto the early readers all too quickly as the drive to “learn to read”
picks up. Such a mistake! So much growth as readers happens with picture
books. That said, parents and caregivers are encouraged to come up alone
or with their children to check out any and all books to take home. The
children are super excited in first grade when they are finally able to
check out a book on their own that they are directly responsible for
selecting, bringing home, and returning. Jenny
On Aug 6, 2018, at 4:33 PM, Judy Cha <jccha34@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'd like to update our library policy to allow kindergarteners to check
out books starting at the beginning of the year, after they've been trained
in books care, and how to be responsible in taking care of books.
I'm getting some feedback from another library worker at our school who
thinks kindergarteners shouldn't be able to check out picture books until
the middle of the year when they become more advanced in reading, and can
read the picture books themselves. She proposes they should only be able to
check out easy readers with a few words on each page that kindergarteners
can read. She thinks the point in having students check out books is that
they should be able to read the books themselves. Another point she makes
is that picture books are expensive, and she thinks kindergarteners can't
be trusted to return them on a regular basis.
I think it's fine if parents read picture books to kindergarteners. After
all, kindergarteners are more excited about reading picture books than easy
readers, which usually aren't as interesting. Also, we have a policy that
the parent has to pay for any lost book.
Could I get some feedback regarding if your library allows kindergarteners
to check out picture books, and the reasoning behind that? I need to make a
strong argument to change this policy, bringing it to the attention of the
principal if the other library worker fails to comply.
Thanks!
Judy Cha
Granada Islamic School
Librarian
