The Reviews are in

I just received an email from Neil-Schuman announcing that my book, Early Literacy Programming en Español: Mother Goose on the Loose Programs for Bilingual Learners has just been reviewed. Below are what the reviews have said. Pretty good!

"In this thoughtful and highly useful resource, Diamant-Cohen takes elements of her energetic Mother Goose on the Loose literacy programs and incorporates them with early childhood literacy strategies used with Spanish-speaking, bilingual children and their families...this is a worthy source of ideas for any librarian serving Spanish-speaking populations."
-- REFORMA, Spring/Summer 2010

"The most helpful information covers how to work within the Latino community; how to plan and present with a Spanish-speaking partner; and how to customize the book's programs to suit the individual library...Non-Spanish-speaking librarians, as well as those who speak Spanish, will benefit from this book."
-- Booklist, July 2010

"The volume is infused with enthusiasm to serve the children of Spanish-speakers. It will not only help English-speaking librarians, but also the bilingual ones to present and enjoy MGOL."
-- School Library Journal, May 2010

Visit us at ALA

The American Library Association is holding their annual Conference in Washington DC this weekend. Mother Goose on the Loose will have a table in the exhibit hall Stop by and visit us at booth 4064. Tell us about your lapsit programs, get a free pen, buy a CD (or two, or three), and register for our raffle!

Mother Goose on the Loose at Port Discovery

On the Facebook Fan Page of Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore, there are a couple of video clips of Mother Goose on the Loose.

If you are interested in signing up for a one day workshop with continuing education credits at Simmons College on Saturday, April 17, go to:

http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/boston.php#loosegoose

For a workshop at Simmons with continuing education credits on Sunday, April 18 on "Preschool Storytime Revisited," visit http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/boston.php#preschool

Mother Goose on the Loose: Article about Spanish language MGOL

Mother Goose on the Loose: Article about Spanish language MGOL

Article about Spanish language MGOL

It's very exciting to see that the article written about the Spanish Language program by Anne and I has been published in American Libraries Magazine.


This coincides with the release (finally) of the Spanish MGOL CD on CD Baby


And within the next few weeks, the book I have been writing for Neal-Schuman should become available (see below). This is a great example of "When it rains, it pours..."

Early Literacy Programming en Español
Mother Goose on the Loose Programs for Bilingual Learners

Fan Club

My good friend, Gerri Baum, started a Mother Goose on the Loose fan club on Facebook. Please feel free to join!!!

Constructive Playthings is having a sale on colored scarves: a package of 12 scarves on sale for $7.48! (Item XX-204). And cluster bells are on sale for $1.70 per bell (Item xx-263). If you need either of these items, these are great deals; order from 1-800-448-4115 or www.cptoys.com. (This is not a paid announcement - just a friendly tip!)

Developmental Tip Cards are Available!!!!!

At long last..... I am delighted to say that the developmental tip cards that I created along with Saroj Ghoting are finally available!

When presenting Mother Goose on the Loose training workshops, I often heard participants say that the most difficult thing for them was coming up with new developmental tips for parents and caregivers each week.

I envisioned a deck of developmental tip cards that could be used in any early literacy program. Related to school readiness, each card would have a brief tip relating to one of the domains of school readiness, written in easy language for adults of all levels to understand. On the flip side of the card would be suggestions for the presenter regarding activities that could go along with the tip; i.e. a song, story, craft activity, or suggested project for home that the presenter could either lead or mention.

I asked Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting if she would like to partner me in the writing of these cards, and ALA Editions agreed to be our publisher. We wrote a short manual describing the domains of school readiness and explaining how to use the tip cards. And the complete package arrived at my home in the mail yesterday! What a treat!!!! ALA Editions did a wonderful job of producing it, and I believe this is going to be extremely helpful to anyone who is running programs for adults with children ages 5 and under.

The Early Literacy Kit:
A Handbook and Tip Cards

For more information and to order book.

Also, I'm looking forward to my presentation at the New England Library Association this weekend!

Exciting week in Indiana

I have just returned from an exciting week in Indiana! For five days, I drove up, down, and around the state presenting Mother Goose on the Loose workshops. I visited Fort Wayne, Merrillsville, Lebanon, Jeffersonville and Evansville. Some of the groups were large and some were not so big, but in each place I was greeting with Midwest warmth and enthusiasm. Indiana is a beautiful state, and the librarians there are great!

In between Jeffersonville and Evansville, it was recommended that we stop at a restaurant off the highway called "The Overlook." What a gorgeous place! Windows overlook a hairpin turn of the meandering Ohio River; there is green everywhere and the sunsets are splendid!

I'm now back in Baltimore, and a colleague just sent me a link to a wonderful article on brain research and how children learn. It is from the New York Times, written by Alison Gopnik, and can be accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16gopnik.html

MGOL lives on...

One of my friends sent me this link to a YouTube video about Mother Goose on the Loose at the Enoch Pratt Library. Even though I have left Pratt and am now working at Port Discovery, it's great to see the people I trained running such an enthusiastic program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDS5N-GgeyA

An article about Rachel MacNeilly's program in the San Francisco area,

http://www.webjunction.org/programming-and-outreach/-/articles/content/456616

NAFCC Conference

The National Association for Family Child Care Provider was last week. For the first time, I had a booth in the exhibits area, and more than 1/10 of the people at the conference stopped by. The session included a sample program. There was no space in our room for moving chairs or sitting on the floor, so 60 people squeezed into the hallway and we ran our sample program there. Not very wide, but very, very, long. It actually went well.

Workshop in Kennewick, Washington!

Mother Goose on the Loose Workshop

Saturday, May 30
9am to 4pm

Mid-Columbia Libraries
Kennewick Branch
1620 S. Union St.

Mother Goose on the Loose is an award-winning early-literacy program for
children from birth to age three. It combines music, movement, visual
literacy, language development to help children get ready to read. Even
more important, it helps young children get ready for school by learning
how to focus and concentrate, learning social skills like taking turns,
learning how to express emotions, and developing a love for learning that
will ensure their success throughout their school experiences.

Cost is $35 includes lunch and “5 STARS Hours”

For Registration Call: Child Care Resource & Referral (509) 545-6145

Catholic Family and Child Service: MidColumbia Libraries:
Diocese of Yakima Grow your mind

New program in South Carolina

Check out this article from South Carolina now. It's great to see the training put into immediate action!


And here is a post from the South Carolina library listserv:

From: Forum for SC Public Library Children's Services Staff
[mailto:CHILDLIB-L@LISTSERV.SCSL.STATE.SC.US] On Behalf Of Deann McManus
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 9:38 AM
To: CHILDLIB-L@LISTSERV.SCSL.STATE.SC.US
Subject: Re: [CHILDLIB-L] Mother Goose on the Loose

I started doing MGOL for my Toddler program the next Thursday. I just did my third one yesterday. It's been a huge hit with the 3 and under crowd. Even the grandparents like the knee bounces! And the parents have started inviting friends. Last fall I had 3 for my toddler program on a great week. Now I'm averaging 7. Of course, our new building has contributed to the growth, but I KNOW that the MGOL program will bring more patrons in.

On Friday, I had an exhilarating visit to Terra Haute, Indiana. There, United Way of the Wabash Valley has partnered with the Vigo County Public Library and Success by Six and received a Mother Goose on the Loose grant. I presented a workshop for librarians, daycare providers, trainers, program directors, and others which was great fun. At the end of the day, I was shown the new car which was paid for by the grant!

The decals have not been put on it yet, but I was given these pictures showing the final product! This will be the very first "Mother Goose on the Loose mobile!" One of the librarians is going to do outreach to daycares by traveling around in this vehicle and providing roving Mother Goose on the Loose programs. How cool!

Upcoming Workshops in Baltimore

A full-day MGOL training will be held at Port Discovery Children's Museum on Monday, May 18. There will also be a training on Tuesday, May 19 for English speakers who would like to start a Spanish langauge Mother Goose on the Loose program (Eschucha y Disfruta) at their library (but do not necessarily speak Spanish).

Both workshops will be led by Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen, creator of Mother Goose of the Loose.
Additional trainers will include Regina Wade for the full-day training workshop and Rose Hernandez for the workshop focusing on Spanish speakers.

Each workshop involves background information on recent research, brain develompent, child development, and school readiness. There is a hands-on demonstation, a connection of the research with the practice, a step-by-step guide to planning and executing your program. There is also a piece where each person makes their own flannel board piece and then has the opportunity to perform their rhyme in front of the group. Since we know that the best way to learn is by doing, our workshop reflects that. I can guarantee that anyone who participates in the workshop will leave with the knowledge, the skill, and the inspiration to present Mother Goose on the Loose programs at their own libraries.

Non-Spanish-speaking participants in the Spanish workshop will leave with the toos and inspiration to start their own programs. The workshop covers how to look for a community partner who speaks Spanish, (knowing how to look and where to look), what points to keep in consideration, how to work together with a partner, how to prepare yourir library for this type of program, what type of content is needed, and how to organize and present the content of this specific program (Eschucha y Disfruta - Mother Goose on the Loose en Español. Anyone who does not yet run Spanish langauge programs for families with young children but would like to start, would find this workshop very helpful.

Workshop dates and times are as follows:

Monday May 18th 2009 English Workshop 9 am -4pm (1 hour break for lunch)
Tuesday May 19th 2009 Workshop for learning how to run Mother Goose on the Loose in Spanish (Eschucha y Disfruta) 9 am -3pm (1 hour break for lunch)

Location: Port Discovery Children's Museum, 35 Market Place, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Please return completed registration form by email.


Checks can be made out to: Mother Goose on the Loose, LLC, and can be sent to:

Mother Goose on the Loose
P.O. Box 20857
Baltimore, Maryland 21209


Questions? Call: 443 928-3915




REGISTER HERE!

One Hour Telephone Course

The evaluations are in from the one-hour telephone course on Mother Goose I presented on Friday, February 20, 2009 for the Education Institute, part of The Partnership - Canada's national network of provincial and territorial library associations.

Comments include:

-Speaker was clear, spoke quickly but was easy to listen to and understand. Covered a lot of info.

-We had a great time! We now have many new songs (with lyrics) to offer our toddlers at storytime.

-Enjoyed the enthusiasm of the speaker. it was very well organized and presented.

-Enjoyed this session very much. It was great to see that we are on the right track here in our library as we follow a similar, though not exact, way of doing our baby and toddler programs.

-Reassuring to know that we already incorporate many of the suggestions in our program; great to get new rhyme ideas.

-I appreciated the balance of theoretical information as well as practical examples of stuff I can use in my programs.

-I appreciate the enthusiasm and new ideas. I'm looking forward to trying them.

-Enjoyed it!

Pictures from the South Carolina Workshop

Deborah Hotchkiss just sent me a link to the Flicker slideshow of the training workshop I recently did in South Carolina. Look at all the great flannel board pieces people made! Also, there is a brief YouTube video. Check it out!

Tony Chestnut

During the Flannel Board presentations at the workshop in South Carolina, I heard some wonderful new songs. One of them was Tony Chestnut, which was taped and uploaded to YouTube. Have a look at this cool song:


Try it some time at your library!

Workshops in Pennsylvania

Regina and I will be leaving for Pennsylvania today, where we will be doing two workshops in Washington and Butler, and then another two workshops next month.

If anyone lives in Pennsylvania and would like to attend the workshops, check for more details on this Website:

http://mgolworkshops.wetpaint.com/

NEW Training workshops in Baltimore

It's Official!!!!!!

On Monday, May 18, the very first Mother Goose on the Loose training workshop for individuals will be held in Baltimore, at the Port Discovery Children's Museum. If you would like to learn how to run Mother Goose on the Loose programs at your library, museum, or childcare center, this is your golden opportunity!

And, if you would like to learn how to run Mother Goose on the Loose programs in Spanish (even if you don't speak Spanish), come to the "Escucha y Disfruta con Mamá Gansa: Mother Goose on the Loose Program for Spanish-speaking Families"">which will be held at Port Discovery on the following day (Tuesday, May 19)!

For more information and registration, write to: mgol@mgol.net