WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — After a tough year of learning, the Houston County Public Library System is dedicated to helping all kids love to read, just like Benjamin Silva. Youth specialist Rebekah Scarborough hopes to keep many kids engaged over the summer through the vacation reading program.
"I'm hoping this year to get back up closer to our quota of 500 kids," she says.
84 percent of parents are worried COVID-19 has hurt their child's learning, according to a Brainly survey. The program the library offers covers a lot of the experts' tips for overcoming that, one of those being hands-on project learning.
"I'm also offering animal yoga in the park, which will go along with the hungry caterpillar, so we start with egg pose, which is child's pose, and we move on throughout the story. I'm trying to get them outside to associate reading with activity," she explains.
Molly Swaffer, a Warner Robins mom, signed 5 of her kids up for the program. Though they were homeschooled, they faced their own learning hurdles this year.
"Actually coming to the library, the adjustment of the COVID thing, and for a while, they were closed. It was really hard for my kids with books and trying to get new books to read, etc," the mom shared.
For parents concerned about the learning loss, the Houston County Library is helping to keep children's noses in a book.
The program is set to begin on June 1st and last through mid-July. For details, check with Houston County public libraries.