Beginning on Tuesday, October 2 at 11:00 a.m., the Children's Room at Lawson McGhee Library will introduce a new weekly storytime for preschoolers called "Pre-K Read and Play." Pre-K Read and Play is a pilot program specifically designed to prepare children to enter kindergarten. While the format of the program will feel like a traditional storytime with books, music, and other educational activities, each weekly session focuses on a different standard from the Tennessee Department of Education's Early Childhood/Early Learning Developmental Standards.

Library programs for preschoolers are typically designed to develop early literacy, or pre-reading, skills, and Pre-K Read and Play will still focus heavily on these skills, but will also feature other topics in the wide range of skills that children need to be developing before they enter school, including math, science, and motor development. For instance, storytimes in the first few weeks of the program will focus on Personal Health Practices, Numbers and Counting, Dramatic Play, and Self Concept. After each storytime, parents and caregivers will also receive a handout that lists other ways to develop the featured skills at home through reading and fun activities. Most of the skills that young children need to acquire before entering school don't have to be "taught" in a formal sense, but can be developed through reading to children and allowing them to explore their world through play. Play is essential to early learning. Pre-K Read and Play aims to provide children and their families with ideas for incorporating reading and playing into everyday life in a meaningful way.

Pre-K Read and Play is a storytime for preschoolers designed to develop school readiness skills. Ages 3 to 5. Tuesdays at 11 am beginning October 2 in the Children's Room at Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave.