Infant Area Ideas

  I had no problem putting together my ideal Family Place area in my head..but finding its realistic counterparts for what I had envisioned for my infant area was another story. I put a "HELP!" out on the Family Place listserv and with the help of those amazing library professionals....I received quite a few great ideas and I cannot wait to make them into reality. Here are a few great ideas that were shared with me:

http://www.safespaceconcepts.com/grossmotor0_2s.html



http://www.worthingtondirect.com/early_childhood_furniture/soft_play_furniture.htm

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/home/home.jsp

http://www.jonti-craft.com/



  If you have any ideas to share, please do! I would love to see them!



My Family Place Notebook

  We all have those notebooks or journals that we guard with our life....well I have one dedicated to all things Family Place. I decided to create a ginormous wish list, have it approved by my supervisor, then my library director, and then by our Community Director. Instead of having a file folder full of potential purchase orders, I decided to make is a little fancier and easier to visualize the bigger picture.

  I began by shopping around (again, I love to shop, but especially for bargains) and I must have looked at 6 different websites and catalogs looking for the best price of that awesome wooden boat/stairs that we saw when we visited the Compton Library. One company had it for as much as $300.00! I found the best priced boat at Constructive Playthings ( $169.99). Woo hoo! I then printed out every single thing that I wanted to purchase (I made sure everything is in color, had some sort of mention of where this item was from and had a simple description). I then found a giant 3 ring binder, hole punched each piece of paper, and created my notebook of possibilities!

  As I said in my last post, I divided up the notebook into different sections, which makes it a lot easier to navigate through when looking for a particular space or area. Here are some pictures:

Parent Child Workshop Section (Divided up by station. Each station section has its own wish list.)

(Example)

(This section is divided into before and after pictures, furniture and wall decor, and manipulative's that will only be used in this area)



Shop till you Drop!

  My name is Rachelle and I am a shop-o-holic! Give me the opportunity to spend money and I will be on cloud 9 and it doesn't even matter that the items I am purchasing are not for myself. I must have gone through 20 early childhood resource catalogs and another 20 book catalogs...AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING SO! I think I may have a problem..or a gift. :)

Here are just a few of my catalogs that are all marked up:



  After marking up my catalogs I scheduled a meeting with my supervisor to keep her in the loop and to get her approval before I showed them to my director. I ended putting together a huuuuuuge notebook  that was divided into the following sections:

• Items for the Family Place Early Learning Environment: Before pictures and layout
• Items for the Family Place Early Learning Environment: Wish list for furniture and Decor
• Items for the Family Place Early Learning Environment: Manipulative's/Toys
• The Parent/Child Workshop:Science Station
• The Parent/Child Workshop:Shapes/Colors/Letters
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Blocks and Stacking
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Music
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Infant
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Dramatic Play
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Gross Motor Skills
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Transportation
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Puzzles
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Books
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Art Center
• The Parent/Child Workshop: Exploratory

  After speaking with my supervisor she only vetoed one item which was this canopy:

  She thinks that little ones will tear it down...which they probably will. So..sniff sniff...I had to let go. (I am still  trying to convince my hubby to let us put one up in our living room....) After she approved the rest of the items, I made an appointment to meet with my director.

Start of a Beautiful Friendship!

Hi everyone!
  I have had butterflies in my stomach since the moment I had the pleasure of meeting my new Family Place family in Carson back in September. It was such a rare opportunity to be in the same room with so many library professionals who share the same passion for little ones, early literacy, and who also know the value and true importance of play. I left there with such a plethora of knowledge, a fire in my heart, and professionals who I now can call friends.
 
  I began working on the Family Place grant as soon as I returned to work and let's just say....wow! It was a very long and very thorough process, but I was incredibly proud of myself for what we turned in. The grant writing process is a great opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the library where you are employed and it may be one of the only opportunities children's staff have access to financial, governmental, and political information. I can also say that after working with other City departments, I am very lucky to be working for a City who truly cares about the future of our children!

 Future grants...bring it on!!