Baltimore County Public Library offers a wide variety of activities for your children this summer. I’d like to mention some of them.

Let’s start with our youngest customers. Whether for the summer or year round, all branches of Baltimore County Public Library offer “Baby Storytime” for ages birth through two years with an adult, and “Preschool Storytime” for ages two to six with an adult. These programs incorporate reading books, rhymes, singing songs, and playing – through which librarians expose children to vocabulary words and encourage parents to do the same. Librarians help increase language awareness by modeling for parents how to employ books with very young children: using words in a variety of ways; incorporating language with movement, music and art; and exposing children and adults to voice inflection. All of these are important skills that foster literacy.

Summer is finally here. No homework or classes. But what can happen during the summer? Children who don’t read every day will suffer from “reading loss.” This will negatively impact them when they start the next school year. Read with your child. Discuss the content; ask about what is happening in the story. Think of this as exercise. If you don’t use your “reading muscles” they will weaken.