Over the past month Best Beginnings has sent over 1,200 books to the homes of 100 children living in areas of Alaska where there is currently no Imagination Library program. While Alaska has one of the highest rates of enrollment in Imagination Library nationwide, we know that there are still over 7,300 Alaska children living in communities Read More
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Books You’ll Love to Play With
Silly, lovable, and fun to read. These titles are perfect for playing with words! Not a Box by Antoinette Portis (Toddler, Preschool) A young rabbit is sitting in a cardboard box. Why? Well, it turns out that it’s NOT a box after all: it’s a racecar, or a mountain peak, or even a robot costume. Simple Read More
Ways You Can Help Your Child Play with Books
Sing the words on the page. You can read a book that is a well-known song like Wheels on the Bus, or make up your own song to go with any story! Singing actually slows down language, which helps your son hear the smaller sounds that make up a word. Later in life this skill Read More
Books as Play
Whoever said that learning is all work and no play had it all wrong! Playing with your child is not only fun, it is one of the most important ways you can nurture her development. Through play, your child learns communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills that are key to their social, emotional, and physical development. Read More
Books You’ll Love to Start a Conversation
These stories touch on many challenges and new experiences a child may face. Use them as conversation starters to talk about your child’s feelings. Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman (Preschool) Turning the gender binary on its head, this book invites and encourages both boys and girls to wear the colors they want and Read More
Ways You Can Help Your Child with Conversations Starters
Young children experience new parts of life every day. Unlike adults, they aren’t always able to draw on past experiences to understand the new ones. It’s up to you as their parent to help them through it. Whether the topic is joyous or sad, the secret of understanding is in the conversation you have with Read More
Celebrating Young Learners
Join the celebration! April 8-12 is the Week of the Young Child, sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and there are many ways you can participate. Thank an early childhood educator! Did you know there are 38,800 children under age 6 who live in families where all available parents Read More
Conversation Starters
Where do babies come from? Where did all the dinosaurs go? How come we don’t have a car? Children are full of curiosity. Sometimes it seems like the questions just keep coming! And let’s be honest, they aren’t always the easiest to answer. That’s where books come in. Using books as conversation starters with your child Read More
Welcoming Spring with Strength
We Alaskans greet spring with such enthusiasm. We comment to each other – even to strangers – about how the snow is melting and the days are getting longer. The news that we’re gaining five minutes and more of sunlight a day is met with happy smiles. April will be here soon, and so it Read More
Books You’ll Love for Bedtime
These bedtime stories are the perfect reading buddy for a calming bedtime routine. Again! by Emily Gravett (Preschool) A young dragon doesn’t want to go to bed. Instead, he wants his mom to read him his favorite story… over and over and over again. But mama dragon is getting awful tired herself and a little bit Read More