 Literacy – How do we get there?
How do we learn to read? Does it start when we are cuddled on our mother's lap, hearing how Peter Rabbit was caught in the watering can or that three little kittens are looking for mittens? Educational statistics show it is just those moments, when children are small and minds are eager, that reading is sparked and the building blocks for learning are set.
Research from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and by the U.S. Department of Education show that reading books to children measurably increases their listening and speaking skills, letter and symbol recognition, ability to form and use more complex sentences, understand words and ideas, and develop positive attitudes towards reading. These abilities are all necessary for a child to be ready for school.
But not every Nashville area child receives the gift of reading and stories. Thousands of area children have mothers who can't read, don't speak English, or must leave the house early and come home late each day to be the sole support of the family. When parents can't or don't read aloud, their children often miss the critical developmental tool that specialists confirm as the keystone of literacy.
And when those children miss those first landmarks, they enter school already at risk for reading and learning problems. Children who cannot read risk academic failure in all subjects. Academic failure is the leading cause for non-completion of high school.
That's why Book'em exists - to help those children who don't have the advantage of their own books at home or parents at home who read to them.
Downloadable documents:
7 Components of Literacy
Dialogic Reading Techniques
Facts About Reading Aloud
Reading Aloud
Tip Sheet for Parents
|
