Books and songs and activities about mariachi music, plants, shapes, colors and numbers filled the monthly pre-K bilingual story hour at Springhill Lake Recreation Center on Friday, October 11. Children’s voices filled the room with singing, responses to questions (“A star!”) and talking to each other, though attention sometimes wandered, which happens when you’re 2 years old and there’s a lot happening around you.
There were three new attendees among the 24 children who ranged in age from 6 months to 5 years old. Sophia Werking said of Anya and 6-month-old Jojo, “We’ve been coming since Anya was 2 and she’s almost 3 now. It’s good for her to interact with other kids.” Gloria Walters-Flowers’ granddaughter Ava first came as a stroller baby, and on Friday walked in, choosing I Am Sam-I-Am from the book table. A set of triplets has begun sitting still and paying attention. The story hour is walkable for Franklin Park families and attracts attendees from across Greenbelt. Ericka Vargas, with 3-year-old daughter Kiarah Muniz Vargas from central Greenbelt, said, “We love this hour. We’ve been coming for a year.”
Bilingual literacy enables children to learn in the language they find comfortable, increasing communication skills and literacy and fostering cultural and social growth, according to American University’s School of Education. Robert Goldberg-Strassler of Greenbelt’s Random Unselfish Acts of Kindness (RUAK) group began the story hour in October 2022 with the city’s Recreation Department and Prince George’s County Library System. Darlene Reyes from the Beltsville library led the group through books, songs and activities. The book Adela’s Mariachi Band introduced children to Mexican music and instruments while telling how Adela finds her role in her family’s mariachi band. In The Plant Rescuer, Manny visits the library to learn how to care for his first plant.
The song De La Cabeza a Los Pies (From Head to Feet) got children and adults moving while naming body parts in Spanish. When Reyes asked the children to name shapes she displayed, they said “A triangle” and “A circle,” to which she responded “Yes, an orange triangle, un triángulo naranja” and “A purple circle, un circulo morado.” In a book about shapes, attendees looked for shapes in everyday objects: “Triangles are crunchy chips for guacamole and dip. … How many rectangles can you find? Do you want to count the flags? Let’s do it in Spanish: Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco – 5!” After helpers distributed leaf shapes, Reyes asked children to bring different color leaves to her, teaching them colors, to follow instructions and to take turns.
Netio Casasola Trujillo, 3, proudly showed the dinosaur excavation kit he chose to take home. Mother Katherine Trujillo said they have been attending story hour for about 10 months, saying Netio likes the books and learning about colors, and she appreciates listening to the reading and songs. Jessica Lopez said her 1-year-old daughter Itzel enjoys being with other children.
Gabriel, 5, told the News Review he likes singing (“Yes, I do”) and brother Jaden, 2, likes listening to stories (according to his enthusiastic “Ah, yes!”).
Afterward, Jim Thompson, with 2-year-old son Cayo, said the story hour was “Lovely. His mom is Puerto Rican so it’s nice that he can have the dual languages going on. We try to do that at home, too.”
Previous story hours highlighted the Chinese Mandarin language, Islamic culture, Patuxent Wildlife Refuge and the Laurel Dinosaur Park, with takeaways including paints, sidewalk chalk and Play Doh. Every session includes healthy snacks and books and toys to take home, organized by Goldberg-Strassler, Janice Ataiyiyero, Jennifer Dudley, Judy Goldberg-Strassler and Mary Anne Savercool. This month children left with books, tambourines and bubbles.
“It’s so joyful! … you can’t leave without a book,” said Savercool. Ataiyiyero explained, “We started all this together. It’s so inclusive – we have children from all over, different language books, American Sign Language. I’ve been to other story times in the area, and nobody has one like this.”
The story hour occurs the second Friday of each month at Springhill Lake Recreation Center, with the next one scheduled for Friday, November 8.
