Reading is the one activity that can increase the bonds between parent and child, teach your little one about the world around them, and open their eyes to concepts they might not encounter every day. Read and Discuss Stories is the last pillar of the Basics. The idea is to make reading fun while your kids are young, and instill a love of reading that will persist beyond childhood.

There is so much for a child to learn about the world around them, and their best tools are movement and play. Movement and play support motor development while simultaneously encouraging curiosity- and are the pillars of the fourth principle of the Basics.

Picture books are more than colorful images paired with words. Great picture books insist that the reader and the listener actively play and talk. Learning is made dynamic when you add dancing, imagination, and verbal responses. Movement makes literacy fun!

Our librarians at Henrico County Public Library are always ready to provide information and tips on early literacy. But we also love early math! Little ones are ready to tackle math concepts well before they reach kindergarten, and it starts with counting, grouping, and comparing. These three foundational concepts set the stage for mathematical understanding. Here are our tips to count, group, and compare, the third principle of The Basics.

Children who are exposed to lots of books early in life are better prepared once they start kindergarten. Read with your little one and try to reach the goal of 1000 books before they start kindergarten, and earn cool prizes along the way!

Language learning starts early, and the best way to build vocabulary is through interaction. Talking, singing, and pointing are hallmarks of language learning, and the pillars of the second principle of The Basics. The Basics are a set of principles that help families maximize early learning so you can build a foundation for your child's cognitive, social, and emotional growth. In the second post in this series, we are sharing tips for “Talk, Sing, and Point”, the second principle of The Basics.

Building a strong foundation for learning begins at birth. To help families maximize early learning during this critical phase of development, Henrico County Public Library has adopted The Basics. This is the first post of a blog series in which we will cover all five principles of The Basics so you can build a foundation for your child's cognitive, social, and emotional growth. Here are our tips for maximizing love and managing stress, the first principle of The Basics.

We are debuting a new, on-demand storytime service called Storyline this month.  Storyline offers recorded stories over the phone, and is geared toward preschool and early elementary children and their families.  For people looking for an opportunity to share stories offline, the library will offer newly recorded stories each week.  

Reading to young children as early as possible can help strengthen the bond between parent and child, increase vocabulary, and teach kids about the wider world. HCPL offers storytimes for all ages, from birth to preschool, and we wanted to share tips caregivers can use to read like a librarian.