Family Literacy

Reading aloud to children is so important to their development and to foster a lifelong love of reading. I truly think that reading to children is the number one way to promote literacy.  

Family literacy is exactly like it sounds - reading as a family, meaning making reading a priority in your home with your children whether it is a bedtime story, reading magazines and/or newspapers daily, or playing games that have reading as a component.  

Today, most children attend some type of day care or preschool setting before entering elementary school, and as a result, reading at home became less of a priority. However, with all the new research on the importance of reading to children comes a new focus on incorporating family literacy into our busy lives. 

One great program is 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.  Sounds incredible, doesn't it?  I mean, most adults can't even say we've read 1,000 books, and the push is for kids under age 5 to read that many?  Well, not really.  It's supposed to give adults with children incentives to read aloud to their children as much as possible during their early development to get them reading ready for kindergarten.  This is a seriously cool program.  And it's FREE!  The website makes it easy to get started downloading the reading logs, recommended reading lists, and there's even an app!  Public libraries and some school districts have adopted this program, so it makes it easy to get support finding interesting and exciting books for every development milestone.  

And the push for family literacy doesn't stop upon entering elementary school. Have you heard about One School, One Book? I just found out about it yesterday, and looked up the website at http://www.readtothem.org.  The organization Read to Them is a 501(c)3 that promotes family literacy through the One School, One Book and One District, One Book programs.  

You can check out their informational video here.  Essentially, schools pay for the program that fits their school community an entire school begins reading one (or more) books, whether through mentor reading, read alouds, book clubs or a combination.  There are lesson plans and other activities included in the kit in addition to the books themselves.  Families are encouraged to participate.  

Even if you do not have any children or grandchildren, try volunteering to be a reader at your local school, senior living center, nursing home or public library. Or if you have children and/or grandchildren, encourage them to volunteer. Chances are a discovery of how rewarding it is to read aloud to others will reinvigorate your own reading habit!