Every day is Children’s Book Day at Corona Head Start
Ollie, 3, gets an assist from Mom to reach a book of interest (see which book below!).
April 2 is celebrated as International Children’s Book Day, in honor of beloved author Hans Christian Andersen. Ahead of the yearly observance, our Corona Head Start classrooms organized a book fair that promoted the Children’s Book Day mission of instilling in children an enduring love of reading.
Children used play money to “buy” books that they could take home, read together with their families, and enjoy over and over again.
“The book fair fostered so many aspects of child development,” says Senior Program Director Yolanda Vega, LMSW. “Children were able to browse through the displays and were given a certain amount of play money with which to buy books of their choosing. Teachers operated the play cash registers. Parents and caregivers were invited to make the event a family affair. That’s math, literacy, and family engagement. And the children had a blast, which is always the goal—to associate learning with fun!”
Jahel, 4, with his dad as he pays the cashier, a.k.a. his teacher, Ms. Flor, for the book he selected.
Reading and literacy are central to Child Center early childhood education programs. Our centers offer lending libraries from which families can check out books in their native language to read together at home. Daily class time readings by teachers, parents, and other guest readers align with learning themes.
For our tiniest learners, Early Head Start home visitors model for parents and other caregivers how to read and talk about books. Home-based Early Head Start families also benefit from the award-winning ParentChild+ curriculum, through which they receive free books and toys and guidance on using them.
At the book fair, 3-year-old Ollie, pictured above, knew exactly which book she wanted. She picked a book titled Ollie’s Book as soon as she recognized her name on the front cover.
“Ollie’s teacher, Ms. Alex Pichardo, noted that the book fair gave Ollie the opportunity to transfer her learning of writing her name in class to the outside world,” Yolanda reports. “Opportunities like these are one of the many reasons why events like this are so important.”
