‘Book Bundles’ program opens new pages

A child's love of reading can start even before they can grab a book and crawl into a grandparent's lap, and the importance of early reading development continues growing in every educational evaluation. That's why Elizabeth Christian, assistant professor of education, and Emily Tock, information services librarian and assistant librarian, enhanced a Purdue University Fort Wayne guidance for young children course.

Christian and Tock connected over their love of children's reading materials. That shared interest now helps Christian's students take advantage of a resource called Book Bundles, part of the Children's Literature Collection on the third floor of Helmke Library. The collaboration earned them a Purdue Innovative Online Use of Technology Award this summer.

Christian's eight-week online class focuses on child guidance for parents or professionals, including the impact of child development from adult-child interaction. Christian and Tock have provided technical assignments with students reading with a child, and then reflecting, and discussing the results, both the child's and their own.

The library provides books students can check out in traditional and electronic formats. The first seven weeks are split into categories on social and emotional skills such as interaction, social communication, and adaptive functioning.

"Bringing children's books into the course has been instrumental in helping students understand skills at a deeper level," Christian said. "There is a critical need to begin reading with children within their first year, so this is a way we are working to address this."

EDU 346 is an elective. The students are primarily PFW School of Education majors, but some also come from other fields of study. One student said he was interested because he wanted to be a good dad someday. Another said he'd never had experience with children and wanted to learn what to do.

The first session filled up so quickly a year ago that a second was added, and now the course is taught in two sessions year-round; 57 students took it this past summer.

"The purpose of the course is to acclimate people with young children's learning," Christian said. "It brings both of those populations together, and helps students understand that the importance of young children's learning is the big picture."

The emphasis is on how the skills learned work with children, but can be applied in any future workplace because the seven social and emotional lifetime skills translate across all relationships, Christian said.

"The book bundles and this class is not at all what I was expecting," said Chloe Wampler, a senior who is majoring in early childhood education, who read to her fiancé's little brother. "Book bundles were an entirely new concept for me. After seeing the enriching impact, I can't imagine not connecting a book to every lesson, video, or activity. The book bundles have opened my eyes as to just how powerful books can be and how versatile they can be."

Wampler said she plans to use what she learned from this class every day as a future teacher and mother.

"The book bundles add such a great layer that allows us as students to connect how we would model and teach children important life skills," said Leah McGinnis, a senior majoring in elementary education.

Students also found other benefits, such as remembering their feelings while reconnecting with books read to them as a child. One student said they could remember their grandmother's smell while reading a book once read to her.

"Just to be able to read some of the discussion posts from them linking childhood memories from reading one of our book bundles is quite touching and very powerful," Tock said.

Others were reminded of similar experiences, such as fathers putting them to bed.

"All I remember is feeling like one of the characters in the book going on these great big adventures," Wampler said. "I want to create those same experiences for my future students someday, just as my dad did for me. I learned from a very young age just how influential books can be in every aspect of a child's life."

Throughout the course, students are encouraged to suggest new titles to add to the bundles.

Graduate student Sydney Salway says she uses the lessons every day with her two children and in her classroom.
"I learned that there are many different ways to provide guidance to kids," Salway said. "There is not one way to do it. There is always room for growth and development. I always try to have grace with kids, and sometimes we need to extend that to ourselves as well."

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