CICERO, N.Y. (NCC News) – The town of Cicero has higher high school graduation rates than the statewide average. The North Onondaga Library of Cicero offers toddler reading time four times a week. Children do more than just reading during this time, they participate in arts and crafts to help them develop their motor skills.
Pamela Palladino, a grandmother of two, has been bringing her grandchildren to toddler reading time for the past three months and says it’s a great way to get children into the routine of a classroom setting.
Her granddaughter, Giovanna, had never used scissors before toddler reading time.
“She had never had her hands in scissors and it was the first time she actually held them and she was doing two hand cutting and today she did another craft where she was able to use scissors and she was doing them with one hand and actually cutting on a line, it was the first time I saw her doing that, I was actually pretty impressed,” Palladino said.
This type of progress is something that Nicole Hershberger, the children’s librarian at North Onondaga Library of Cicero, says she sees often. She said starting kids at a young age can make all the difference in their reading habits later on.
“I have been doing this job for 10 years now and the kids that come to story-time a lot are definitely more comfortable when they come in, you know, as elementary schoolers and even middle schoolers,” Hershberger said.
Hershberger said that parents often get nervous about their children not being able to sit through a whole story but that’s not what they should be focusing on.
“What I try and tell parents is that it’s not really important that you read the whole book, or that the kid necessarily sits down next to you quietly while you’re reading a book, they get it eventually, they all do, so you just try and keep trying and eventually something will stick,” Hershberger said.
