We all know how important reading for children is! Today the variety of books is huge, but like everything else the price has gone way up! I can’t afford every book my daughter wants, so I’m glad we live in a town that has a terrific library and plenty of children resources. When my daughter reads a book at school that she likes, we can find the rest of the series at the library.
There are lots of tools available for learning. School projects are a snap when we can just go to the library and get a stack of books about whatever subject we need. They also have online access, so while we are there we can do fact checking and look up more books.
My daughter was just six when she decided to enter the science fair at her school. She wanted to find out what made bananas ripen, so we went to the library to do some research and find out.
The test had three parts - we put a banana in the fridge, one in the windowsill, and one in a paper bag. When the one in the paper bag ripened faster than the one in the window, and WAY faster than the one in the fridge, we were able to discover why from the books we had checked out.
We found out that the ethylene gas was captured around the banana in the bag, and ethylene makes bananas ripen fast! She checked on Ask Jeeves to find an easy way to express it, and finished making her chart and posters. She won first place out of the eight first grade classes in her school, and took third out of all the first grade classes in the district!
Both of my kids love the library, so we have to go at least once a week. It’s one of the few really free things left, and they appreciate getting to read all the books they want - and learn at the same time.
The ability to learn and have plenty of books around you is so taken for granted in this country! I feel very lucky to live here now where you can read the books just for the asking at a library!