Reading Machine at Save the Children

Lake Los Angeles – At Wilsona School District, the Reading Machine is a regular guest performer at Save the Children. Its popularity is unchallenged. On Wednesday, April 27, 2022 there were 96 moms. dads and children in attendance. More came, more chairs were set up and the ramps to the classrooms were lined with over 100 parents and children. The weather was perfect, the area was cool and shady, the breeze was light, and the families enjoyed a non-stop fun program for 30 minutes.

The Outdoor Story Time program is at Save the Children every other Wednesday. Each Wednesday the audience is always there to enjoy the reading, the singing, and the animation.

Outdoor Story Time at Save the Children is brought to the community through the Los Angeles County Library Reading Machine Program. The Reading Machine Program is early literacy and STEAM activities at daycares and preschools. Reading Machines bring early literacy and STEAM based activities outside library walls.

Pictured is Ms. Shayna Szabo, Youth Services Librarian as she delivers the messages and readings, including playing the ukulele and leading the singing with the families. Assisting Ms. Szabo is Early Childhood Coordinators Dulce Morga and Silvia Sandoval. The opening song was “The more we get together’. The children have their favorites, and the singing can get quite enthusiastic especially with ‘The Itsy-Bitsy Spider’ and the animated fingers up and down routine. It gets more animated during the song ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ when the clapping, the foot stomping and the hooray shouts take over.

The children sit in the front rows on their own size chairs and the rest of the world is gone from their minds. Today, one young reader got away from his mother running with his hands in the air to greet Ms. Szabo. The children are totally engaged.

Today’s stories were about sizes, comparing what is big, medium, and little and their relationship to each other. The Three Bears was one of the stories and their sizes compared. How many bears? Each child absorbed the lesson while having fun.

With the song, Slippery fish, slippery fish, swimming through the water, Tuna fish, tuna fish, swimming through the water, Octopus, octopus, swimming through the water, Great white shark, great white shark, swimming in the water, Humongous whale, humongous whale, swimming in the water, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp! BURP!.............Excuse me!, the children took pictures of each and lined them up on a display board according to their size. The session ended with the Alphabet song.

Each child received a book to take home. Today’s book was a Priddy book the First Book of Colors.

For more information on this exceptional opportunity program please call Maria Olegine at 661-264-1111.

By Shirley Harriman