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(You can also find links to great websites for families there.)
Somerset County Libraries will be closed Tuesday May 19th for Staff Training and Monday May 25th for Memorial Day.
Upcoming Programs for Kids and Parents at Bridgewater Library:
Lego Club (For ages 5 - 12) Thursday, May 21, 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM. Registration is required. Hey LEGO fans, here's a club just for you! Get together with other LEGO-maniacs, share ideas and tips on building, and have a great time!
Advocacy: Developmental Milestones for Infants and Toddlers Birth to 3 Years. Thursday, May 21, 2015 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Registration is required and begins April 16. Jenniger Blanchette McConnell, PhD will discuss all areas of infant and toddler development, including social emotional, communication, cognition, motor development, and adaptive/self-help skills. She will identify links to helpful resources about child development and explain how to refer to NJ's Early Intervention system for a developmental evaluation at no cost to families. 1.5 professional development hours will be awarded to attendees.
Upcoming Programs for Tweens & Teens at Bridgewater Library:
Teen Advisory Board (Grades 7 - 12) Tuesday, May 26th 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Registration required and begins April 28.
TEENS: YOUR OPINION MATTERS! Do you have suggestions for programs, new books, movies, or video games? Then come to one of our TAB meetings! Community service hours will be awarded for attendance and snacks will be served!
Tween Volunteers (Grades 4-6) Monday, June 01, 2015 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Make a difference by volunteering at the library! Help out with special projects and earn community service hours. Registration is required and begins May 4.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ben Kator
Bernards Township, NJ: William Shakespeare’s beloved play The Tempest will be performed by The Lord Stirling Company May 8-23 in the English Barn at Farmstead Arts May 22 at 8pm and May 23, at 2pm and 8pm. Farmstead Arts is located at 450 King George Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Tickets are $15, or $10 for Farmstead Members, seniors and children. Tickets may be purchased online at www.FarmsteadArtsCenter.org, or at the door.
The Tempest is one of last plays written solely by The Bard. It centers around Prospero, The Duke of Milan, who has been deposed and exiled with his daughter Miranda, to a distant island full of spirits, monsters and a party of shipwrecked royalty. William Ward of Basking Ridge, NJ, directs and designs this creative interpretation of this Shakespeare play.
AFFORDABLE SUMMER CLASSESFOR AGES 5 - 18
George Street Playhouse’s Summer Theater Academy celebrates each student’s creative expression; providing a fun, engaging environment to explore theater, develop self-confidence, and collaborate with others.
Registration is open, but limited. Auditions are not required.
THE ART OF THE BRICK IS AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE IN PHILADELPHIA
WHILE YOU ARE IN PHILLY, CHECK OUT THIS FASCINATING MUSEUM NOW OPEN ON WEEKENDS
The Museum at CHF will be open every Saturday in April--and Saturdays and Sundays from May to September.
Check their website for hours and other information to plan your visit, and stay tuned for updates about special weekend activities and tours.
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation
Opening Saturday, May 2
From the builders of some of America's earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pioneers to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. "Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation" explores the Indian American experience and the community's vital political, professional, and cultural contributions to American life and history. Weaving together stories of individual achievement and collective struggle, "Beyond Bollywood" uses photography, narrative, multimedia, and interactive stations to tell a uniquely American story, while conveying the texture, vibrancy, and vitality of Indian American communities.
www.morrismuseum.org Morris Museum | 6 Normandy Heights Road | Morristown | NJ | 07960 VISIT SUPPORT EXHIBITIONS THEATRE ART CLASSES
Visit the museum for free (you still need to pay for theater admissions) using the library museum pass if available. The Morris Museum also participates in the Bank of America Museums on Us program. During the first full weekend of every month, each Bank of America card holder is entitled to one free general admission to the Museum. For further information, visit museums.bankofamerica.com/
PLAN AHEAD FOR SUMMER WITH SOMERSET COUNTY PARK CAMP AND ADVENTURE PROGRAMS FOR KIDS AND TEENS
Coyote Kids (Ages 4-6) --a fun nature program full of outdoor hikes, live animals, hands-on activities, games, and crafts!
Eco-Explorers (Ages 7-9) (click here for PDF)
AWESIM KIDS (Animals, Wetlands, Environmental Science, and Incredible Minds!) (Ages 10-13) (click here for PDF)
Xtreme Adventure (Ages 13-16) (click here for brochure)
LET YOUR FINGERS DO MORE WALKING:
Report debunks ‘earlier is better’ academic instruction for young children By Valerie Strauss
Four- and 5-year-old students listen to their teacher, Angie Clark, read at a Des Moines elementary school in 2011. (Steve Pope/AP)
The debate about appropriate curriculum for young children generally centers on two options: free play and basic activities vs. straight academics (which is what many kindergartens across the country have adopted, often reducing or eliminating time for play). A new report, “Lively Minds: Distinctions between academic versus intellectual goals for young children,” offers a new way to look at what is appropriate in early childhood education.
Katz writes that longitudinal studies of the effects of different kinds of preschool curriculum models debunk the seemingly common-sense notion that “earlier is better” in terms of academic instruction. While “formal instruction produces good test results in the short term,” she says, preschool curriculum and teaching methods that emphasize children’s interactive roles and initiative may be “not so impressive in the short run” but “yield better school achievement in the long term.”
That reflects a finding in a report released earlier this year, titled “Reading in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose,” which says that there is no evidence to support a widespread belief in the United States that children must read in prekindergarten or kindergarten to become strong readers and achieve academic success. You can read about that report here.
Katz also writes in the new report that “earlier is better” is not supported in neurological research, which “does not imply that formal academic instruction is the way to optimize early brain development.” Rather, she says, the research suggests that “preschool programs are best when they focus on social, emotional and intellectual goals rather than narrow academic goals” and provide “early experiences that provoke self-regulation, initiative and …sustained synchronous interaction in which the child is interactive with others in some continuous process, rather than a mere passive recipient of isolated bits of information for stimulation.” Read More.
Best NJ Playgrounds to Visit
Bored with your local swingset? Here are a few amazing New Jersey playgrounds worth driving to.
