Catch the Possibilities

This fall, I've been fielding an unprecedented amount of reader's advisory requests for science experiment books for young children. I have many families who are just starting their homeschool journey, so I think between that and the ever-increasing awareness of STEAM skills in the general public, more caregivers and parents are desiring to try some science exploration in the home.

Problem is, in my library at least, the bulk of the books in the science experiments area were geared towards upper elementary, science fair type projects. Not only are many of the concepts going to be beyond 3-6 year olds, but the skills required to design, implement, and analyze the results are beyond the scope of developmentally appropriate practice for most in that age range.

So I set out on a mission to request as many books as I could that seemed, from their catalog records at least, to be appropriate for a 3-7 year old audience.

For librarians, these 9 books/series I'd recommend as general purchases for your library or system.

Kitchen Science Lab for Kids: 52 Family-Friendly Experiments from Around the House by Liz Heinecke
Written by a Minnesota mom and author of the popular Kitchen Pantry Scientist site, this book emerged from her experience searching for experiments that would be safe enough for her youngest, engaging enough for her oldest, and completed with items already found around the house. That's a tall order! Heinecke's suggestion of a science journal will integrate easily into homeschool study, and the color photographs and clear writing make following the experiments easy.

The Curious Kid's Science Book: 100+ Creative Hands-On Activities for Ages 4-8 by Asia Citro
"[Science is] about asking your own questions and making your own investigations--two things young children are very good at!" says Citro. She goes on to say, "Babies and toddlers learn about their world by forming questions and experimenting to find the answers...Young children are curious, observant, and determined problem solvers." Therefore, this book doesn't offer prescribed, step-by-step experiments. This book will engage children (and their adults) in critical thinking skills at every step of the scientific process. Because of the format, this book will offer science experiences that provide rich, flexible, and easily differentiated learning. I see a natural progression from Kitchen Science Lab for Kids to The Curious Kid's Science Book for homeschooling families or families with serious STEAMy interests.

The Kid's Book of Simple Everyday Science by Kelly Doudna
40 simple experiments covering physics, chemistry, and biology are presented in easy to follow directions with colorful photographs. Pictographs indicate which experiments require safety glasses, adult help, heat, or sharp objects. A great collection for general home use.

More Super Simple Science series, ABDO publishing
Experiments are presented with simple instructions and large color photos, along with a differentiated version of the scientific method suitable for young children. Titles in the series include: Light, Food, Gravity & Motion, Liquid, Magnets, and Sight & Sound.

First Science Library series, Armadillo (Anness Publishing)
Each titles includes many simple experiments that require mostly household items and very little time. Pages at the back offer "hints for helpers," with more detailed information about what is happening in each experiment. Books are published in the UK, so some conversions will need to be made. Titles in the series include: Water Play, Magnets & Sparks, Light & Dark, Sound Magic, On the Move, Animals & Plants, and Up in the Air

Janice VanCleave's Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects by Janice VanCleave
Inspired by questions asked by real kids, the book offers science activities that involve playful, hands-on experiences designed for use for 4-7 year olds. The book includes section summaries, a glossary, and a teacher's guide to preparing and presenting the lessons, A good supplement for development science process skills, curiosity about scientific concepts, and exploration, but not a good fit for families wanting step-by-step experiments following the scientific method.

Science Play! by Jill Frankel Hauser
Subtitled "Beginning Discoveries for 2- to 6-year olds," this boo has been the recipient of the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award, Early Childhood News Directors' Award, and the Parents' Choice Approved Award. The book's introductory material stressed the role of scientist for the child and lab assistant for the caregiver, a scientific methods for little learners, as well as a shopping list for common items used in the discoveries featured in the book. Best suited for informal learning than fulfilling specific standards or objectives.

Whiz Kid Science series, Raintree (Capstone Publishing)
Rather than separating the background and explanatory science information from the experiments as I observed in many of the other books, all the relevant info for each experiment is presented together. A bonus "Troubleshooter!" tip box offers suggestions on how to adjust or change the expeirement of environment in order to achieve success. In terms of preschool appropriate, step-by-step experiments, this series offered the presentation I preferred the most. Titles in the series include: Make it Boom!, Make it Zoom!, Make it Glow!, Make it Change!, Make it Grow!, and Make it Splash!

BONUS: Science Around Us series, The Child's World
The titles in this series would pair well with experiments illustrating the concepts presented in the books. Using illustrations and photography, the books simplify concepts to a more understandable level for young learners. Back matter provides suggestions to parents and caregivers of more resources to consult for those looking for more in-depth study. Titles in the series include: Air, Dirt, Electricity, Energy, Magnets, Shadows, Sound, and Water.

Additional books and series:
For librarians looking to expand their collections, I'd consider these supplementary purchases for this age group.
Junior Scientists series, Cherry Lake Publishing
Lightning Bolt Books: Plant Experiments series, Lerner Publishing Group
The Giant Science Encyclopedia of Science Activities for Children 3-6 edited by Kathy Charner
150 Amazing Science Experiments by Chis Oxlade
Everyday Science Experiments series, Windmill Books (Rosen Publishing)
First Facts Fun Science series, Capstone Publishing
I'm a Scientist: In the Kitchen by Lisa Burke
Science Explorer Junior series, Cherry Lake Publishing
Six-Minute Nature Experiments by Faith Hickman Brynie
Six-Minute Science Experiments by Faith Hickman Brynie
Show-Me-How: I Can Experiment by Steve and Jane Parker

Future Releases to Watch for:
I can't guarantee these will be suitable for preschool aged science experimentation. But they've caught my eye so far, and I'll look for reviews closer to their publication dates.
A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature by Asia Citro
My First Book of Science Experiments by Thomas Canavan
Outdoor Science Lab for Kids: 52 Family Friendly Experiments for the Yard, Garden, Playground, and Park by Liz Heinecke
Whatever the Weather: Science Activities and Art Activities that Explore the Wonders of Weather by Annie Riechmann
Amazing (Mostly) Edible Science: a Family Guide to Fun Experiments in the Kitchen by Andrew Schloss
Show Me How I Can Do Science by Steve and Jane Parker
FUN-damental Experiments series, Bearport Publishing (new titles: Heat, Plants, and Weather)
One-Stop Science series, Smart Apple Media

Some Lexile, AR, GR, DRA, etc info is in our catalog, but there's not a way to search for items by that criteria. I knew about web tools like AR Book Finder and the Lexile website, but it didn't feel like enough service to essentially say, "here's some websites you can use, but I can't really direct you to any books in our library because we don't deal with those programs." We do serve the entire community, and I don't think it's best practice to start rearranging the entire collection to align with one program (if you could even pick one program over another), but is that really a good excuse for not helping more?

So I started to think about ways to provide a higher level of service to support parents and caregivers. I posted on the Flannel Friday Facebook page to see what those in that community were doing already. I found some librarians who, like me, struggle to accept these programs as a part of our educational systems because they conflict with core values at the heart of the library profession. Some just view this as a school program and refer parents back to the teachers and librarian at their school for guidance.

And I found some who can acknowledge the conflict and press through. Some pencil program information used in their areas into books as a step of the item's processing. Others include the information on their booklists.

My first step was to contact the media specialist coordinator for the school district my library serves. She was able to tell me that I was hearing so many different things because there are three programs that are used in the district: Accelerated Reader, Guided Reading, and Lexile. But she went on to identify which programs were most popular in different grade levels. She also alerted me to the fact that Lexile is a result that is given on students' reports from our state testing.

I thought the next step was providing all the staff at my library (there are 7 of us) tools to be able to recognize and distinguish one program from the other. Parents often don't know the name of the program their child is participating in, so being able to recognize it from the information they can provide is a key first step.

• I made a handout from charts that I found through Google searching that only included the three programs for our area. These charts are complicated to look at-- so excluding any unnecessary info was important to me. That's why I didn't simply run copies of the ones I found. I also made the chart comprehensive. 98% of our questions are for kids, not teens, but I included the information from Kindergarten-12th Grade.

• A local library system had some succinct descriptions of the programs, so I also included those for staff. I've never going to be an expert in the nuances of these programs, but I can speak to the basics.
• I also included links to the web resources for each of the programs. And highlighted Novelist as a great place to start, especially with Lexile.
• I passed along the information re: which programs were most popular at what grades (for our area, GR is most popular in the lower elementary grades, AR in the upper elementary grades, and Lexile is used all over but especially in high school). 

I plan to work with another staff member who's especially good at creating print promotional materials to pare down the 4-page handout I made for staff to something manageable for the general public. I also plan to include program information on my booklists in the future.

My other ongoing project is creating a spreadsheet with information for the items in our collection. I don't think it will ever be comprehensive, but I would like to get to a minimum level of maybe 20-30 titles per level, with greater coverage in the early levels (since that's where I encounter the most need for pretty specific levels or types of books). This is not the kind of project that happens overnight. It takes commitment. On the upside, I am also weeding and relabeling items as I go, so when I am through, we should have nice, neat looking areas of the collection!

We are small and don't have a shared drive or intranet site, but we do have a library Dropbox account that we all have access to where the file will live. This will, I hope, become our most effective tool for getting some books into the patron's hands while they are here. It looks a little something like this:


The colors in the author field correspond with colored stickers we already have on our easy readers indicating the easiest, middle, and most complicated books in that section, roughly.

I absolutely think that no matter what, parents and caregivers who are specifically looking for the majority of their child(ren)'s reading to fit into these programs will have to spend time doing their own research at home and placing lots of requests in the online catalog. With our forthcoming print materials, we can give them the links and tools to do that on their own time. But with a quick and easy way of searching for items we know we own, we can hopefully at least find one or two books that are checked in, and at the level they desire so they aren't walking away book-less. They will be armed with both resources AND a book for that night. Win. Win.

I have yet to join the reading challenge bandwagon in full force, but even just nearly 5 years out of graduate school, 11 out of high school, and (eek!) 17 out of elementary school, I am already feeling like my reader's advisory is "dated." Meaning, I'm still relying on a lot of things I read when I was a kid to suggest to parents and kids when they're not looking for something like "what else can we try that's like Diary of a Wimpy Kid?" So I mused on Twitter one day asking for advice from my colleagues.

Mel, of Mel's Desk, was very helpful, and threw out a bunch of "non-traditional" type ideas (ie. not a pure book count or genre-based challenge). I did a little embellishing on one of her initial ideas, and this set of goals was born. The focus for me is really on getting to know my library's collections better, so that I can be sure to recommend and think of books we own, increasing the likelihood that I can come up with something I can intelligently talk about that we have on the shelf.

So without further ado...

In 2013 I will be reading:

• A children's fiction book & teen fiction book (that I haven't already read!) by an author from each letter of the alphabet that I find by browsing the shelves (no requesting from the county branches!) (52 total)
• 3 picture books or easy readers by authors from each letter of the alphabet found, again, by browsing my shelves (78 total)
• 13 children's nonfiction books longer than 100 pages. This is always a tough school assignment for kids and parents, so increasing my knowledge of our collection in this respect will be a good thing.

There's a site called Clean Teen Reads http://cleanteenreads.com/ that I know of, but I haven't given it a good test to see what their coverage is like.

If you use the Goodreads site at all, there's a group on there http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/39799-clean-teen-reads

This is another one I'd try for a couple ideas: http://cleanteenfiction.blogspot.com/

This site is new to me, but they've got DETAILED information on a good list of books https://sites.google.com/site/parentalbookreviews/ I'm definitely bookmarking this one!

Otherwise, for specific titles, I'd say Googling them and reading some blog reviews will be your best bet.

Part of the fun of reading is self-selection, and I think it's an important skill to have, BUT.... here are some lists you could offer for a little bit of "guided" self-selection.
http://www.amespubliclibrary.org/teens/GoodReadsRatedPG.asp
http://www.deschuteslibrary.org/teen/reading/cleanteenreads.aspx
http://www.readingteen.net/p/reading-clean-spotlight.html
http://www.slcolibrary.org/rc/rcwr/pdf/booklists/booklistTeenClean0412.pdf