As a Children’s Librarian, I develop a close bond with many of my young patrons. I see them week after week, learn their personalities, and enjoy the time that I get to spend with them in Story Time. As summer is quickly turning into fall, I know that some of those familiar faces will be going off to preschool and kindergarten. While it is an exciting time for these blossoming students, it is also a little sad for me since I will no longer be seeing them in my morning programs. With this in mind, I recently asked one of my regular program participants if her three-year-old grandson Remy would going to preschool. She replied “this is it…the library is his preschool.” In addition to spending at least 30 minutes reading every morning, Remy and his family work on learning the alphabet, his numbers, shapes, and rhyming words at home and they come to library to reinforce those skills with weekly interactive programs like Countdown to Kindergarten.

Countdown to Kindergarten is an early literacy program geared towards three- to five-year old children that takes place each Tuesday morning at the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library at 10:45 a.m. Through stories, songs, and crafts, young children learn some of the skills they will need to be successful in school. They also can interact with other children, a crucial part of their development. While this program alone cannot truly replace preschool and cover everything students need to know before they start kindergarten, it is an excellent foundation for early literacy skills.

In Countdown to Kindergarten, we are currently learning the alphabet through letter recognition, phonetics, and basic handwriting. Each week we begin by “walking around the alphabet.” As music plays children walk across laminated letters on the ground. When the music stops, children are called on to pick up their letter and shout out its name. Other activities include the “Colors” song where children and their adults stand up and sit down based on their chosen color card. We read stories related to the letter of the day and incorporate technology into the program as appropriate to help build early STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills. We finish each week by singing the alphabet song and making a craft related to that week’s theme.

Countdown to Kindergarten also features sessions on rhyming words, patterns, shapes, telling time, and counting among other topics. While there is a large focus on academics, the program also teaches listening skills, following directions, and peer interaction.

This is just one of our many programs that enrich children’s lives and promote early literacy skills. In addition to Countdown to Kindergarten, we offer weekly Story Time programs on Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. and on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and Movement and Music on Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. There is no registration necessary for any of these programs and they are free to all.

Countdown to Kindergarten is currently being held at the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library, and there are plans to expand the program to other branches. For more information about Countdown to Kindergarten or any of our other early literacy programs, please contact the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library at 252-527-7066 ext. 133.