GOLDEN, Colo. -- For many kids, going to story time at their local library is a habit that starts when they’re just a few months old.
While they and their parents may have a lot of fun and make new friends during what are usually weekly get-togethers, there’s more of a science to what they do during those story time than they might think.
“It’s the way we build little brains,” Donna Walker, the public services director for Jefferson County Libraries told Denver7.
She said the goal of story time sessions is to help kids develop broad vocabularies and get them ready to read by the time they reach Kindergarten.
“The more words a child hears, the more they are ready to read, the more vocabulary building [happens],” she said.
While the songs and poems are fun for the kids, they are just as important for the parents.
“When kids come to story time they start to hear what it’s like to hear a story read to them,” Walker said. “Then the parents get to see it modeled for them to start to asking questions about the story and have the child start to anticipate the story, how it might end.”
Kate just turned 1. Her mom says daily book readings are making a huge difference in her development.
“She’s starting to pick up on animal sounds from farm books and that kind of stuff,” mom Kelly Wasserbach said.
Mom RJ Mauro started taking her daughter Ruby to story time sessions when she was just two months old and knows she’s building her daughter’s vocabulary and more.
“Even now when I read her books at home, she may not be looking at the book, but she’s seeing me hold the book and read it so I think that’s helpful for her,” she said. "I think the bouncing rhymes that have actions that go along with them are especially helpful because she hears the word, has an action associated to it."
Most library districts offer story times, you just need to check their schedules to find one near you that caters to your child’s age. Below you will find links to many of the larger library districts in the area, but there are others that offer story time as well (and don’t forget, you can always take your child to a story time at a library outside of your district if it is close and works better for you.)
Check out the list of libraries that offer story time below:
Anythink Libraries in Adams County
Jefferson County Public Library
