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Do-It-Yourself Takes on New Meaning A Resource Guide to Mount Prospect Public Library yourguideSpring 2011 Do-it-yourself Takes on New Meaning The do-it-yourself trend usually refers to home improvements, but a byproduct of the recession has been an increase in the number of people taking on tasks that, in the past, they may have contracted out. Now people are changing their own engine oil, learning new computer skills on their own, and putting Here Comes the Bride! together their own weddings. Whatever you choose to tackle, the Library is your first and best resource for free information to help you succeed at your next project. This issue of Your Guide includes several do-it-yourself If there’s a walk down the aisle in your future, the resources offered through the Library. Don’t see your project listed here? Just ask one of our staff; they can help Library has resources to help you plan a unique you find almost anything you may need. Good luck on your next undertaking! event—and maybe even save a few dollars for the honeymoon! From the invitation to the send-off toast, the Library is full of ideas and projects for your Learn-it-yourself Sites to check out special day. Short how-to videos, as well Design your own “Save the Date” cards, invitations, Online as full length video courses on placecards, and party favors with ideas from a multitude of topics, Wedding Papercrafts (745.5941 WED), Wedding Harness the power of the Internet to learn something including how to install a hard drive, how to use Favors & Decorations (745.5941 PAF), and Wedding new. Your computer can help you do more than send your Kindle™, and how to start a container Invitations…A Bride’s Guide to Simple Calligraphy e-mails, create documents, or shop online! It is a garden. Hint: go to HomeDepot®’s YouTube (745.61 MAT). gateway to a number of reputable websites that can channel. (www.youtube.com) If you’re the crafty type, you’ll enjoy The DIY help you get educated on a wide range of topics. Bride: 40 Fun Projects for Your Ultimate One-of- Step by step guides and a-Kind Wedding (745.926 COC), Wedding Crafts For example videos, which will show (745.5941 RIS), and The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown you how to create folders on your iPad, create ring The problem: You need to change the formatting of (745.5941 COC.) Take a look at the Hobbies and tones for your iPhone, and even how to increase your résumé in Microsoft Word. Solution: Lynda.com Crafts Reference Center (search “wedding crafts”) the download speed on your PC. (www.ehow.com) The problem: You want to Skype with your children/ on the Research & Reference page (www.mppl.org/ grandchildren but you need to set up a webcam. Full video courses to help you research) for even more ideas and patterns. learn to use Microsoft and other Solution: Mahalo.com On a tight budget? Check out Crafty Ideas for the software applications. The problem: You need to protect your computer Bride on a Budget (745.5941 CRA), Pretty Weddings Lynda.com offers free tutorials from spam, spyware, and viruses. Solution: for Practically Pennies (745.5941 RIS), and The Green or you can pay for a subscription HP.com/go/learningcenter (even if you don’t own an Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-friendly Wedding to learn even more. (www.lynda.com) HP machine). on Any Budget (395.22 HAR.) How do you uncover these hidden treasures of the Worried about making (or receiving) a wedding Internet? With a simple Google search. In the Google Self-paced classes toast? You might want to give your best man a copy search box type, “how to…” You will be rewarded that will teach you of Wedding Toasts Made Easy (808.51 HAI) or Perfect with hundreds of sites—even college level courses— to use your computer or one of the Microsoft Wedding Speeches and Toasts (808.51 DAV), and you that can teach you almost anything, FOR FREE! applications like Word or Excel. You can also test can check that worry off your list. yourself on your new skill with the quizzes at the Some of the advantages to learning online: Wedding flowers, cakes, and photography are end of each lesson. (www.gcflearnfree.org) • Always available covered, too. You can even get in shape for the happy day with The Wedding Workout (DVD 613.7108 • Learn at your own pace WOM) and make your first dance one they’ll never • Choose the format for your learning style (videos, forget! (Dancing Together: A 90-minute Guide to a step-by-step printable guides, tutorials, online Beautiful Wedding Dance/DVD 793.33 DAN.) courses) Over 1800 instructional videos and exercises on college level math, science, and humanities topics. • Infinite number of topics This is just a sampling of the many (www.khanacademy.org) resources the Library has available • Practical information to help make your wedding a • F r e e one-of-a-kind event. For more online learning resources check out the Free online courses from major universities, Library’s Training Materials page (www.mppl.org/ including MIT, University of Notre Dame, and research/training_materials) and the Learn to Use Carnegie Mellon. (education-portal.com) Your Computer: Free Online Courses presentation. SECTION SPECIAL PULL-OUT Save forReference Future yourguide 2 Playing Your Way to Literacy the early-literacy station to spark interest and activity. “I’m making a picnic.” Colorful, well-illustrated, theme-related books will “Your waffle is ready.” promote print motivation. Easy-to-follow recipes will support narrative skills. Labeled props will foster These might not be the words you expect to hear at a print awareness and teach new vocabulary words. A library, but they are part of our new Youth dramatic simple rhyming game will help develop phonological play area designed to promote pre-literacy skills. awareness. Finally, identifying the beginning letter Children learn best when they are actively involved of food items will teach letter knowledge. Positive in the learning process. Play is their “work” and the encounters with reading through play will help way in which they make sense of their environment. children understand the value of the written word. Noted child development expert Jean Piaget For example, a child could “scribble” a shopping believed that “make-believe” play allowed children list or sound out the word for “microwave.” A child to move from concrete activities to symbolic ones, is more likely to remember how to read the word where language and the written word can begin to “soup” if he first sees this word while having fun substitute for the activity itself. This developmental pretending to make soup in a play kitchen. The Six Pre-literacy Skills stage is an essential precursor to literacy. Playing The theme-related activities are designed to promote Print motivation is associating fun with the also allows children to practice making choices, parent-child interaction—such as helping one’s child printed word, inspiring an interest in, and the enhances their creative abilities, and helps them find a food that begins with the letter “A”—and enjoyment of, books and reading. understand their world. Our new dramatic play support parents as they gently teach their children area encourages self-directed play, where children the six pre-literacy skills in a fun Letter knowledge is learning that letters are interact independently with their environment. The simplicity of the different from each other, that they come in environment and make their own activities will provide a launching capital and lower case versions, and that letters learning goals. pad for parents to continue the relate to different sounds. Modeled on the home literacy experience at home in Print awareness is noticing print and environment, our dramatic play the child’s own play center. The recognizing that print has meaning. It includes area currently includes a kitchen, flexibility of the dramatic play area knowing how to hold a book, turn the pages, and plans are underway to add will allow Youth staff to introduce and learning that books are full of words. a storybook house made from new activities to keep the area discarded library books. It is fresh and the children engaged. Narrative skill is the ability to describe objects, talk about events, and tell stories. designed to be a learning center So, if your child is bored with the where children can experience and toys at home or if you feel yourself Phonological awareness is learning that words practice the six pre-literacy skills— craving a plastic waffle, just head are made of sounds —hearing and playing print motivation, print awareness, over to Youth Services and let the with the beginning sounds in words, the letter knowledge, vocabulary, playtime fun begin. smaller sounds within words, and syllables. narrative skills, and phonological awareness. Every two months a Vocabulary is knowing the names of things, new theme will be introduced to concepts, feelings, and ideas. Learn to speak Apprenez à parler ¡Aprende a hablar Ucz się języków another language, une autre langue, otro idioma, ahora! obcych już dziś! now! maintenant! Expand Your World There are a lot of reasons to learn a language. including greetings, expressions of gratitude, and enough comprehension to find the bathroom to Perhaps you learned a language in school and want directions. Along the way, you’ll get cultural tips feeling fluent enough to engage in an extended to brush up your skills. If you’re traveling, you to help prevent those awkward social faux pas.
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