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.