I Love My Library Blog Series: KCLS provides Lynda.com for free!

Welcome to my first post of  "I Love My Library!"

I am in libraries all the time, either doing shows, or checking out books for myself, or my five grandchildren. I am constantly amazed by two things. One: the new services both on and offline libraries are adding every day, and two: number of people I talk to who are totally unaware of the these incredible resources. So I am starting this series to share those resources with you because when you're really excited about something, you want everyone to know about it! And in this day and age when everyone is trying to juggle every minute and stretch every dollar, the library has endless ways to accomplish both. Most of these posts will be related to using the library with children, but I couldn't resist sharing this first one.

Lynda.com for free!

Lynda.com, if you don't know about it, is an amazing online video training service. So let's say you want to know how to use Word, or Windows 8, or Garageband. Or you want information on... how to find information! The scope of topics is relevant and extensive. You go to Lynda.com. and put in your search request. You will be presented with list of short video tutorials. And that's what makes this service so great. Pick a short tutorial you can easily digest (well-done and easy to follow), and what seemed like a monumental task (learning a new program) is broken into digestible bites that you can actually fit into your already-full day. You can view them on any device, so if you're stuck in a line somewhere, pull out your smartphone and learn something! It's brilliant, and effective. 

Lynda.com is a subscription service costing between $20-$35 a month- and well worth every penny if you use it.  At my library, KCLS, it's free as part of my library account!  Okay, so that's the catch. You have to be a King County Library cardholder. But there are many of you reading this, and you should know about it. Like many library resources, it can be hard to find. So here's how to access it:

Either click on the link or follow direction below (you'll have to enter your library card and  pin numbers) and don't forget to bookmark it!
http://ezproxy.kcls.org/login?url=http://iplogin.lynda.com

or follow these directions to get there: 

KCLS library card holders-
1. Go to KCLS.org
2 From homepage, click on "Learning and Research" page (gray box below homepage heading)
3. From drop-down menu, click on "premium data bases." 
4. Select "browse an alphabetical list", and select "L"
5. scroll down blue headings to "Lynda.com" and click on it. 
6. Now you'll have to put in your library cadrd number and pin
7. Ta-da! You now have free access to an amazing library of short professional video tutorials. 
8. Share with other KCLS library users you know!

Note: The library pays A LOT to provide this service for us, and if we don't use it, they will likley drop it. So DO share it with your friends!

Now I have to go. I'm going to finally learn how to use Photoshop Elements to create photos for my Sing With Our Kids Facebook page! 

Hitting the Reset Button (and adding family literacy page)

When I started my Sing With Our Kids website and this blog in September of 2012, I had two young grandchildren,  and lots of ideas for making sure they and every other child I can reach grows up with singing. Almost three years later,  I have four grandchildren, and another one due any day. The project has come a long way, to be sure, but ideas are like weeds ( I say that affectionately) . As soon as you try to implement one, there are ten more to take its place! So I've had to readjust my strategy. What started out as a one-year project is now, as my wise daughter predicted, a permanent part of my life. In April we added a family literacy page to the website. In 2012 I didn't even know there was such a thing as family literacy! When I was invited to deliver the keynote for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy conference  this April, I did a lot of research and built specific resources on the topic. If you haven't seen it, take a look ./http://singwithourkids.com/family-literacy.htm I'm proud of this page because it draws attention to an important issue, and while the information and free printable books on this page are great for use with family literacy, they are a great resource for anyone working with young children.

Picture books that follow the traditional lyrics are a great way to help emergent or struggling learners by tapping into the way we learn; connecting something familiar to something new. In this case, children who already know the song can sing while looking at unfamiliar text and illustrations, and turning the pages. It give them a sense of "reading." You can find a collection of these published books, and download the mp3 file of me singing it simple and slowly, so it can be done with the the book. Visit the website for a list of other books like this. You can check out most from your local library.    http://singwithourkids.com/family-lit-published.htm

*Don't forget you can download the song onto your phone, for reading and singing on the go! 

DIY Music Class Diary Entry 1

DIY Music Class Diary

I met with the initial mom who expressed interest in hosting a music class, and we began planning. Here are the first  topics we identified to be decided before the first class begins:

Where to hold classes? Some options are:

• Rotate member's houses monthly
• Look into free public spaces, such as community rooms or public library
• A combination of places
• Same location every week
• Private homes, and library once a month

Assigning different "jobs" to members such as downloading or printing materials from website, checking out library materials, assembling music kits

Making sure there is a way to play recorded music in each location (CD player, mp3 player with speaker

Possible 0ne-time  fee to join ($5 or $10) , to be used to purchase materials such as scarves, parachute, instruments

Developing Guidelines for handling personal issues that may arise, such as behavior or lack of supervision

We subsequently advertised using free resources, and have five moms committed  to joining the first class. Average age of children is two.We have scheduled a parent meeting at a local Starbucks to discuss common goals, and specific issues listed above. Our first class is scheduled for March 7th.

Sing With Our kids DIY Music Classes

Welcome to Sing With Our Kids DIY Music Classes. 

In keeping with the Sing With Our Kids project goals of providing songs to sing, and opportunities to sing them, we are starting a network of DIY music classes for children under five. Our plan is to create a model for you to use as is, or modify to fit your needs. 

 DIY Classes:

• Are free, because you are holding them in your home or free public space
• Will offer information on everything from selecting a location, modifying for different ages, acquiring low cost or free instruments and other teaching aids such as scarves, parachute, singing books, and child development information, and handling potential behavior issues within the group
• Organized by friends, play groups, neighborhoods, communities
• Can use sample class plans you can follow or modify
• Free Access to class plans, songs, and other materials
• Sharing of stories experiences of other groups in the Network 
• Offer this blog as a way for you to contribute your experiences, ideas, and comments

It's your class, so if it a nice day, take it outside and add a picnic in the park!

Stay tuned as we build and document this part of the project!

DIY Music Class Diary Entry 1

DIY Music Class Diary

I met with the initial mom who expressed interest in hosting a music class, and we began planning. Here are the first  topics we identified to be decided before the first class begins:

Where to hold classes? Some options are:

• Rotate member's houses monthly
• Look into free public spaces, such as community rooms or public library
• A combination of places
• Same location every week
• Private homes, and library once a month

Assigning different "jobs" to members such as downloading or printing materials from website, checking out library materials, assembling music kits

Making sure there is a way to play recorded music in each location (CD player, mp3 player with speaker

Possible 0ne-time  fee to join ($5 or $10) , to be used to purchase materials such as scarves, parachute, instruments

Developing Guidelines for handling personal issues that may arise, such as behavior or lack of supervision

We subsequently advertised using free resources, and have five moms committed  to joining the first class. Average age of children is two.We have scheduled a parent meeting at a local Starbucks to discuss common goals, and specific issues listed above. Our first class is scheduled for March 7th.

Year Two; Full speed Ahead..sort of!

Sing With Our Kids

Post Number One of Year Number Two!

As I’m sitting here writing my first blog post in a while (after a busy summer concert tour I've set a schedule and am back on track), my six-month-old grandson sits next to me playing happily in his saucer. He coos and squeals with delight as he bounces and turns around, visiting each of the brightly-colored toys at his fingertips. To all appearances, he is totally happy and entertained. That is, until I say his name and join his cooing conversation. Instantly he turns to me. His face lights up in a big smile and now he is REALLY engaged and happy!  “You noticed me,” he says with every squirming learning piece of his body. He bounces extra hard and makes as much noise with his circle of toys as is possible. He is irresistible, and I see there is no work to be done here but document this magical moment in time. In this moment I am the richest and luckiest human on the planet, and my grandson clearly feels the same.  This is what we are designed to do - even to keep our species going.  I am lucky to share in the caring of my three young grandchildren, and as I move Sing With Our Kids into year two, we are doing it together. They are my North Star, helping me keep my priorities straight and always remember why I am on this mission. So I’ll sign off this first blog post of year number two of Sing With Our Kids. Right now I have some even more important work to do!

Stopping to Smell The Roses (or in this case, hear the song!)

Recently I was setting up for a story time as part of the Sing With Our Kids project, and  Margaret Martin, our wonderful librarian, turned on the CD player to welcome arriving parents and their little ones. The CD she often plays and played that day, was 1,2,3, Sing With Me, by Marylee Sunseri, my favorite singer and best friend.  http://www.maryleemusic.com/  .  I heard her sweet voice and was immediately and simultaneously flooded with comfort and memories. We have been singing together since we were thirteen (don't count, just trust me- that's a WHOLE lot of years!). Our singing took us back and forth from each other's houses (miles of walking barefoot), touring across the country more times than I can remember, to New York City where we recorded at Elektra Records, and even to Beijing where we made new friends by simply sharing our songs. The only time we lost track of each other for a few years, it turned out we had both begun singing and writing music for children! We celebrated our re-connection by recording the first children's CD for either of us, Goodnight, Sleep Tight.  The songs we chose for that recording were not really children's songs; they were sweet, beautiful, timeless songs we both loved; that had been part of our history. My children grew up listening to that recording, and for the last four years I have continued to hear it over the baby monitor as my grandchildren sleep. Who could ever have imagined? But now back to the library....

Each of us has a voice unique to us. And there is something so comforting about hearing someone you love sing to you. It has nothing to do with how "good" a singer you are. It's not about that..Our voices carry the love and comfort that come with familiarity,  to the babies and children we sing to. And that comfort lasts a lifetime-  a lifetime! I will always feel comforted when I hear Marylee's voice, and I know my children and their children will as well. When I heard Marylee's sweet familiar voice as I was setting up, I literally stopped what I was doing, and just soaked it in... and felt and remembered, and was grateful. It's so pure, and so simple; singing a song. And although this project is huge and complicated and challenging, it really does all come down to that; finding ways to make singing a part of all of our children's lives. So thank you, Marylee, for keeping me company on this sometimes daunting journey, and for reminding me of what it's all about. Thank you for all of the songs past, present, and future! 

For your amusement, you can read more about "Marylee and Nancy" here.http://nancymusic.com/MLandN.htm

and hear Marylee's wonderful music on her website,  http://www.maryleemusic.com/

Hear clips from Goodnight, Sleep Tight here http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/marylee7

The Other Side of Screen Time

Much has been researched and written about young children and how much (if any) screen time they should be allowed to have at different ages. The information and recommendations change daily as we try to keep up with the pros and cons of the latest technology (I’ll offer more on that in another posting). But what’s not being written about is the other screen time. That is;  adults watching a screen while caring for young children. Last year I took my two young grand children to the park where there were a dozen or so other adults with their children. I suddenly realized I was the only adult who was actually watching the children and got thinking about the consequences of  “the other side of screen time.”

Don’t get me wrong. I love my I-pad and my smart phone and my computer (all of which have allowed me to create and execute this project), but with this technology comes huge responsibility. So here are my thoughts on what’s not happening with our children while we are on our phones, pads, televisions, and other screens...

1.    Brain Connections-  Babies and young children learn new things constantly throughout their day. And when they discover something new the first thing they do is look to their adult for a reaction. It is in this split second, when the adult reacts, that connections are made. These connections build the wiring in the brain. What happens when a baby keeps looking to its parent or caregiver and no one is looking back, preventing those connections from being made?

2.    Face Time- We know children learn empathy by watching the expressions on our faces; concentrating on our eyes. At six months of age they watch our lips as they begin to try to figure out sounds and speech. The more they see and hear us, the more they learn about language and human emotion. How much are they not seeing and hearing from us?

3.    Talk Time- Babies and young children love the sound of your voice and the more they hear it the more they engage and learn. When you imitate the sounds they make you stimulate brain activity. But time spent on screen is time spent not talking. How much time do we now spend not talking?

4.    Memories- When you are in the same room with your baby, but focused on a screen, you are missing out on the best entertainment ever- the human being discovering its world for the first time! Nothing is more amazing, and miraculous things happen constantly. These miracles happen in the blink of an eye, and you don't want to miss them!

5.    Safety- Last but certainly not least, there is the safety issue. As I sat in the park and looked around I I realized how easy it would have been for a small child in a busy play area to suddenly disappear. It’s hard enough to keep your eyes on your own child in a sea of motion, let alone if you look away for five or ten or twenty minutes…

Last year I was setting up for a concert in a classroom at a large daycare. Most of the kids were outside, but the youngest group was in the room. It took me twenty minutes to set up. The teacher was texting the entire time as the one and two-year-olds wandered around the room aimlessly. I purposely didn’t engage with them as I was curious to see just how long the teacher would remain “absent.” I was heart-broken at the missed opportunities that hung so heavily in the silence. In a positive and caring environment you would hear an adult say something like, “Oh! You have a blue block! Would you like to build something? Let’s build a house!” Well, you get the idea. When there is such a lack of engagement it’s stunning. I’m sure the teacher wasn’t a bad person. She was no different than many of us caring for children both at home and in schools and daycares. We just haven’t thought through the consequences of this new world we live in. We haven't thought about what isn’t happening while we’re busy with our technology.

It’s not complicated, but it’s profoundly important.  To raise happy, healthy, smart children, we have to be present, and not just physically present. And that brings me back to singing. Singing is so simple. It’s free. It’s available to every one of us, regardless of income or education. We are meant to sing, and when we sing with our children all of the things that should be happening can and do! So the next time you’re caring for a baby or young child, try putting down your device and just sing together.

Twenty years from now you won't look back and wish you had spent more time texting or watching something on a screen. I promise!