Just Look What The First Skype Connection Can Bring To Our Children....Even On The First Day!

Last week we welcomed all of our students back to school at Van Meter. 

This includes a wonderful new bunch on kindergarten students in Miss McClintock and Mrs. Caltrider's classrooms.  I always love meeting the new little ones and getting them involved in all that happens within our library and school community.

Now we usually don't Skype on the very first day but last Friday I had the opportunity to bring Robert Forbes into the library for a little visit.  As we planned, I told Robert that it was their very first time in the library so I didn't know what to totally expect. We thought by reading Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems we could keep them engaged and having fun.  

And we were right!  

The kindergarteners came into the library, took a seat in the middle of the floor, and listened as I told them how we were going to read books with our author friend Mr. Forbes on the computer.  They were so excited when they made the connection that he lived all the way in Florida too!  

In fact, a lot of them really didn't seem that surprised because they had Skyped with grandparents, family, and friends before.  It is a perfect example that this is the world our children live in, so to include it within our school is something we all must do.  

As Robert and I read two Elephant and Piggie books, the kindergarteners laughed, listened, and asked wonderful questions to both of us.  It was so much fun.

And after school it was fun to see the stories that they brought home with them as parents wrote on Facebook and emailed me.

My friend Kate told how her son Gabe loved coming to the library and Skyping with an author "all the way in Florida!"

I loved hearing that this experience made an impact and brought happy to his day.

By bringing authors, illustrators, and others into our library and classrooms, we are bringing so much to the little ones we work with everyday.

I hope all of you look for these special connections too this year.  They truly do make a difference.