Snapchat Stories: A Visit to the Northbeach Library
In an effort to keep abreast of social media along with my kids, I’ve been experimenting with Snapchat. Partly, it’s a way to learn what my girls are into, (so I can monitor and protect) and partly it’s a way to learn about new methods of educating families and educators. With that in mind, this post on using the library as a resource for informal learning, is the first in a series of parent/kid education videos. Stay tuned for more in this series titled Snapchat Stories…
Informal Learning and the Summer Slide
Recently I wrote about “informal learning” or the learning kids do out-of-school time in order to extend their in-class learning. During the summer months, kids of college educated, affluent families get huge advantages in accessing opportunities to extend their learning through informal learning. I’ve been thinking of ways to help families learn about informal summer learning opportunities in an effort to prevent the “summer slide” or the summer learning loss many low-income kids experience as a result of not being in school.
In case you’re wondering, informal learning includes, but is NOT limited to these activities:
- recreation and parks programs
- travel
- going to public libraries, aquariums, museums,
- taking nature walks,
- participating in acting, theater, dance, music, creative writing and art programs,
- scouting and camping,
- participating in STEM camps,
- taking classes in coding, robotics, and multi-media,
- playing educational games like chess, or on Minecraft servers,
- “making”
- reading for fun…
Your Local Library — The Antidote for the Summer Slide!
With that in mind, I enlisted the help of my girls, their friend and our local AMAZING librarian, Eric Barbus of the North Beach Public Library, I put together a short video using Snapchat showcasing one of the best FREE resources I know in our city for informal learning our local SF Public Libraries. (Eric Barbus reviews books for the Newbery Award Committee and is an amazing resource for great books. To see his list of recommended reads for advanced upper-elementary readers, check out his guest post on my blog!)
Snapchat Stories: Visit to the Library
Learn about great opportunities at your local library this summer and sign up for the Summer Stride Reading Program! Please share this video with other families you know!
What informal learning opportunities do YOU love about your local library? Share them in the comments below.
Interested in more resources to fight Summer Slide? Click here!
