Rubber Ducky Club

(a.k.a. 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten)

 

THE CONCEPT IS SIMPLE:

 

Read a book (any book) with your newborn, infant, toddler, or preschool-aged child. The goal is to read 1,000 books before your little one starts kindergarten.

 

Sound hard? It really isn’t if you think about it. If you read only 1 book per night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That’s 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years! If you consider that most children start kindergarten at about 5 years of age, you have more time than you think!

 

Or if your child is already nearing kindergarten age, this is still totally doable in as little as 15 minutes a day:

The average picture book takes just 5 minutes to read

          – and –

3 books a day (just 15 minutes) for 1 year = 1,095 books!!!

 

THE REWARDS ARE PRICELESS:

 

Reading with children builds vocabulary and language skills, and it introduces them to a wide range of books and stories to spark their imaginations. A child’s brain develops most before the age of three, and a toddler’s brain creates up to two million new connections every second. Studies have also shown that the earlier we read, sing, and speak to children, the earlier they have a desire to learn and the skills to do so. Starting early—before kindergarten—is key to a child’s success through their school years and into adulthood.

 

Plus, 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten goes beyond helping children develop early literacy skills and preparing for kindergarten. Reading aloud to infants and children encourages social, emotional, and cognitive development. This is also a great way to spend quality time with your child that the whole family can get involved in.

 

The key here is perseverance, and we will provide incentives to help celebrate and motivate further reading in the program so you can meet the goal of 1,000 books with your child.

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE- USE OUR BEANSTACK APP:

1.  Go to your phones APP store and download BEANSTACK or head over to metropolispubliclibrary.beanstack.com

2.  Follow the prompts to create an account for your family and add your child/children.

3.  Sign in to the account and select the child you would like to enroll in the top right of the account, child must be 5 or under for this challenge.  

4.  Scroll to challenges and select 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and join!

5. Log your reading with the digital log, including using the digital scanner on your smart phone!

6. Win! Beanstack will alert you with a badge everytime your child is elegible for a prize, rubby ducky or a hard back book!

 

BOOK COUNTING RULES:

 

• Picture books count. E-books count. Audiobooks, read alongs, beginning readers, and early chapter books count. If you consider it a book—it counts.
   

• Yes, you can repeat books! Every time you—or your friend or relative or anyone!—read a book with your child, it counts. Even if your little one wants to hear a favorite book over and over and over.
   

• Don’t forget to count the books you listen to in Little Wigglers Storytime, Preschool Storytime, or other special reading at the Library!
   

• So, basically… There are no rules! If a book is read with your child, it counts. Every time.