A take home book program develops a child’s early literacy skills, involves families in their education, and can even help with emotional development such as separation anxiety.
But how do you do it?
Today’s post is in response to our book study of The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. In the comments of Scott’s post on Chapter 1 there was some great discussion that included questions about how to get books into the homes of children. We all work in different situations; some of our parents have plenty of books in the home and others do not.
Take Home Books Program
However, just because a home is filled with books doesn’t mean that reading aloud is taking place. I have always been a big proponent of reading at home but it was a challenge for me as a teacher to a) send books home quickly and easily and b) actually get parents to read the books to their children.
The biggest obstacle I encountered was making the checkout process quick and painless. Who has time at the end of the day to stand around and write down who is taking which book home? Certainly not me! The second obstacle was to make sure the read aloud process at home was positive and productive, see my story about Cherise in our discussion of Chapter 2.
Here is my easy peasy teaching hack for making the book checkout process in preschool or kindergarten quick and painless.
5 Steps for Creating an Easy Book Checkout System in Your Classroom
Step 1: Hanging bag stand and bags
Step 2: Select books to send home that you have read aloud to the class and are of high interest to the children
Step 3: Neon index cards and book pictures
Step 4: Poster board and library pockets
Step 5: Instruction sheet specific to each book
Step 1: I got my book stand and bags for free from my school library when they were “getting rid of” all their books on tape and transitioning to a digital system. If you’re not as lucky there are many places on-line you can find the same thing, I have included a link to one source for you below. You could probably easily make a stand like this using PVC pipe too; it’s on my bucket list.
Step 2: I find almost all of my books at garage sales, library sales, thrift stores, and of course I use my Scholastic book order bonus points.
Step 3: I found an image of each book online using Google image search, then I printed, cut and glued each image to a neon colored index card and laminated the cards. This way the cards aren’t easily lost inside the pages of the book and can be quickly spotted.
Step 4: I glued one library pocket (or you can use envelopes, see my tutorial here) for each child to a poster board. I also included the name and picture of each child on each pocket; I used address labels for this.
Step 5: In each bag I include the book, matching index card, and instruction sheet for parents specific to that book.
How it works
Once you have your system set-up you will need to train the kids how to use it. At the end of each day I call them up two at a time to select a book to take home. They reach into the bag and remove the index card and place it in their library pocket on the poster board. That’s it!! When they come back the next day they remove their book from their backpack and take the index card out of their pocket and place it back in the bag, and hang the bag up. I told you it was easy peasy!
Out of necessity I created read-aloud instruction sheets for the most popular titles in my classroom such as No David, Pinkalicious, Llama Llama etc. If you’re interested you can read all about what is included in these two packets here. They also include a parent contract, reminder notes for late books, and a program certificate.
Of course, just sending the books and instruction sheets home isn’t always the end of the problem. It’s also important to offer some kind of face-to-face training for the parents, such as a “Family Literacy Night“.
This is what has worked for me in my classroom for many years, different things work for different people. Sometimes people will tell me that they tried this method but the kids “forgot” to put the cards back or they didn’t return the books. My solution to any problem that involves kids and parents “forgetting” is to stop and review the procedures.
Available on Amazon
Great system, Vanessa. I’m thinking about how to change what I’ve been doing in my class. This has possibilities….
I use a similar system, but will be incorporating some of your tips so the children can be more independent. I also send home a sheet about literacy from http://www.readingrockets.org and a “book report” in the bag. I ask who read the book, the author & illustrator, favorite character and favorite part of the story. Then I have them rate the book 1-3 stars. Gets in some important literacy aspects AND insures someone is reading to my kiddo!
That’s a great idea, Tina! I’m going to have to try that 🙂
I LOVE this system! We have had weekly library time at our preschool, but that can sometimes be hard to manage and track. This may be a good alternative, with teachers rotating the available books (rather than such a HUGE selection that is our school library). Thanks for sharing!
I love this idea!!! I will for sure use this ideas this school year!!
A co-worker started sending books home with her children last year in gallon sized ziplock bags. They were all returned. Books are to be shared, and what an empowering thing for the child to bring a book home to share with their family. Next year I will be sending my collection out the door, too. Vanessa, I will probably use your record keeping board, too. “Easy Peasy!”
I did this with my PreK kids. We had great success. In Fall I would send a letter to the parents, explaining how this worked. I had a tear-off at the bottom for the parents to sign that they had read and agreed on the activities and rules of returning the kit in good shape.
I sewed bags that matched the book’s subject, the book and any toys, markers and activity page. That was fun for me!
We had subjects of ABC’s, math, dinosaurs, dogs, babies and Christmas. The most popular was the Birthday Bag, that the child colored the birthday cake and drew the number of candles.
I gave my families a few days to read and complete the activities because with parents’ jobs and family activities, they had more time to enjoy the process.
I think that I got the original idea from you and ran with it!
Thanks Vanessa, great tips and will be working on this to begin in Sept.
This is a great idea! I am going to try and get this setup in my classroom as soon as I can. Tina A do you get good followup with the book report request?
Love your Take Home Book Program! I plan on using it in my preschool program this year. My question is if you have the parent letters in Spanish and if you have recommendations for books that are in Spanish. I am beginning to have more Spanish-speaking families in my program and want to accommodate everyone. Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!
This is a good question Gwen. Unfortunately, I do not have the parent letters in Spanish. You can look up the book titles on Amazon and see if they have the Spanish versions. The most popular children’s books are usually available in Spanish too. Best of luck!
Awesome idea! I’ve seen books being sent home in large ziplock bags, but didn’t know how successful the program was with kids once they got home. Will have to try and implement something like this for my kiddos. And your independent checkout system – genius!
Thanks Michele, I’m glad you like the idea. Please let us know how it works out for you. I have never had a problem with getting the books back because I get parents on board right away in the beginning of the year. I explain to the children that the books are “ours” and are a part of “our classroom” and our job is to care for them and share them with each other.
Vanessa, this is a small thought I had about your word choice, because I think it is deeper than semantics. I really like the way you added “share with each other”, not just bring them back for others to read. Sharing with each other is more personal. I can see how they children might offer a book to a friend to read, not just return it to the classroom. Love the book talk that might happen, and the opportunity to share and lead.
Thanks Jeanne! I strongly believe in building relationships with students and creating a strong bond through the concept of a School Family. We are a unit that works, shares, and plays together daily.