freeresources Archives - chelseasworldofbooks

Hello, hello!

I hope everyone had an amazing summer! The Children’s Librarians had a splash with our theme: OCEANS OF POSSIBILITIES! But now it’s back to school. Speaking of school… today, I’m sharing some homeschool updates.

As you probably know from my previous blog entries, I host a homeschool group for the families in the community of Sumner County Tennessee, in connection with the Hendersonville Public Library of Tennessee, where I work as a Children’s Librarian.

Working as a Children’s Librarian, and having a professional history of childcare and homeschool education, I knew I wanted to create a program that would provide a safe environment for homeschool families while keeping money in their pockets. In other words: FREE. But, what exactly was it that these families were looking for?

I started brainstorming.

I took polls.

I asked people in our community what they needed. What they wanted.

Join Children's Librarian Miss Chelsea as she explores STEAM HOMESCHOOL in the library!

And after some heavy research, I came to a decision. I wanted to create a Homeschool Group where families could relax, cross collaborate, talk freely, and share information and kids could connect, make friends, and learn in a fun natural way, free of forced group activities, time restrictions, or formatted rules. I wanted a hands on learning experience that was child driven. I wanted a STEAM Homeschool Group!

In December of 2021, STEAM Homeschool Group was just a bright shimmering dream. And in January 2022, it became a reality! Of course, no one showed up for that very first meeting. Starting a new program takes time to build members. And besides, January is too cold! Nobody wants to start something new in the wintertime. But, little by little we grew in number.

Fast forward a few months to August 2022.

I’m happy to announce that our monthly meet for August, 2022, we had a jaw-dropping 40 homeschool family members join us for our STEAM Homeschool Group!

The kids had a wonderful time exploring the STEAM tables and the parents were thrilled to pick up their free school books and resources. From our free resource corner, we had pre-packed leveled readers, vocabulary readers, educational honor book packs (science and social studies), and teacher handbooks with corresponding homework and lesson plans. Several appreciative families expressed their gratitude for the provisions provided by the Hendersonville Public Library of Tennessee.

All in all, it was a fantastic day! We’re looking forward to our next monthly meet. If you’d like to find out how to sign up, please visit our the Hendersonville Public Library of Sumner County page on Facebook.

Thanks for reading and happy homeschool wishes!

To stay up to date with me, your friendly neighborhood librarian, you can follow my Instagram page @chelseasworldofbooks

Faces shined Saturday morning as we gathered into the Hendersonville Public Library of Sumner county for a special event: The Awareness and Support Expo “for families and friends caring for individuals with special concerns.”

Children and parents cozied up in the warmth of this charming library as the piano played in the background. Around the library, were community members there on a mission to spread awareness, education, and resources with families with special needs- covering all areas of disability.

Also hosted in the Hendersonville Public Library on May 8th was the Friends of the Library book sale. Usually the Friends book sale is held semi-annually, however, due to covid precautions and safety guidelines for the state and protection of patrons, the library had held off on hosting over the past year. Both these events were arranged by the Director of the Library, Diane Johnson, and Library staff members.

sPECIAL GUESTS VISITING THE HENDERSONVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY TODAY:

To mention a few among the groups that joined were The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Borderless Arts Tennessee, Rainbow Mosho, Mary Elizabeth Jackson, Susan Bailey Moss, and myself, Chelsea DiCicco.

The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilitities

The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities has a Facebook page, hosted by the DIDD Communications Department. Their mission is to support all people statewide in “living the lives they envision for themselves.” Their page aims to promote an informative and community-focused online experience. Find out more about them on Instagram, Linkdin or X.

Borderless arts tennessee

Borderless Arts Tennessee is a non-profit organization run by the state of Tennessee, committed to presenting programs for individuals with disabilities. Through the aids it provides, it adds to the enjoyment and empowerment of the community. For more information, visit their website here or find them on social media here.

Autism Tn aDVOCATE AND cHILDREN’S bOOK aUTHOR, Mary Elizabeth Jackson

Mary Elizabeth Jackson is an Advocate for Autism Tennessee and a independently published Children’s Book author local to the Hendersonville area. She’s also the co-host of an Amazon LIVE show called Bridgetti.Live, hosted by Bridgetti Lim Bana, located in South Africa. During the course of the day, the participants were featured on the show via live stream- Books: Meet the Author.

Independent neurodivergent tween author & artist, Rainbow Mosho

Rainbow Mosho is a twelve-year-old artist and author with Autism, working her way towards empowering other children and families with special needs through her inspirational work. Her goal is to “give hope to all the kids in the world” with her book and words. Discover her indie books and custom pieces of artwork on her Facebook page.

Neurodivergent Children’s Author & Blogger, Chelsea DiCicco

Chelsea DiCicco is a neurodiverse local kidlit author living outside of Nashville, TN. Her book, ADHD and Me, was inspired by events in her own childhood and deals with the day-to-day challenges and triumphs as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old little girl named Malory, who had ADHD.

To find out more about this author or her books, you can visit the ABOUT THE AUTHOR tab of this website or MY BOOKS.