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Every Child Ready to Read

 

Every Child Ready to Read @ NWRL

Children can begin to develop literacy skills at birth. Parents and caregivers who understand the importance of early literacy can develop essential pre-reading skills to help ensure their child begins school ready to read.

Librarians at the Northwest Regional Library System are trained in a national early literacy initiative, "Every Child Ready to Read," which teaches parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators about six critical early literacy skills, recent brain research, and techniques for reading and selecting books for children. These engaging, instructional workshops demonstrate how to nurture these skills in children at each stage of development:

  • Early Talkers: For parents of children from 0-24 months
  • Talkers: For parents of children from two to three years
  • Pre-Readers: For parents of children from four to five years

Libraries Make a Difference in Early Literacy

Developed for PLA by leading early-childhood experts Dr. Grover Whitehurst and Dr. Christopher Lonigan, Every Child Ready to Read workshops are based on most current findings concerning reading development in America’s children. Rigorous evaluation proved that parents of every age, educational background, income level, and ethnicity who participated in Every Child Ready to Read programs significantly increased their literacy behaviors. Those who exhibited fewest of the literacy behaviors at the intake of the program showed significant improvement across all behaviors. In short, when public libraries, using current research practices, partner with the young child’s most important teachers – parents and caregivers – there is a tremendous positive influence on those individual’s behaviors and in getting preschool children ready to read. See the official ALA Early Literacy Initiative website for more background research information.

Some Ways Your Library Can Help

  • Create awareness for parents and caregivers at every age and income level on the importance of early literacy practices through baby, toddler, and pre-k programs and parent/caregiver training at the library or at locations convenient to parents/caregivers.
  • Train the local childcare community in early literacy best practices.
  • Inform local teachers of library efforts that complement school efforts.
  • Work collaboratively with local schools or other agencies to get funding for early literacy initiatives in your community.

Libraries are long-time partners with community organizations such as schools, childcare centers, pediatricians, parenting programs, Head Start, family service agencies, and many more. Your library can work with you to get best literacy practices out to the people most important to those children—their parents, grandparents, and caregivers—and to insure the children in our community are ready to read by kindergarten and to succeed in life.

Early Literacy Electronic Resources

Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/ECRR/ECRRHomePage.htm
The official site of the Every Child Ready to Read initiative. Provides extensive background information, free materials, brochures, and more.

Child Development Center
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/index.htm
This page provides information related to assisting parents in helping their children and teenagers to improve their learning and study skills. Techniques on how to develop motivation, attention, comprehension, organization and creativity are provided. Information and materials to bring basic skills in reading, math and written language up to or above grade level are also available.

Early Literacy – Birth to Six – Multnomah County Library (Portland, OR)
http://www.multcolib.org/birthtosix/earlyliteracy.html
Describes fundamental concepts of early literacy, identifies six pre-reading skills highlighted in Every Child Ready to Read workshops, explains the concept of dialogic reading, suggests books, and more.

Early Literacy and Brain Development Resources
http://www.earlylit.net/earlylit/bibliography.html
A lengthy collection of electronic and print resources compiled by Saroj Ghoting, an early childhood literacy consultant and trainer for Every Child Ready to Read.

Get Ready to Read! Online Screening Tool
http://www.earlylit.net/earlylit/bibliography.html
Get Ready to Read! is a screening tool developed by the National Center for Learning Disabilities for parents to use with their four-year-old children. PLA is in partnership with NCLD to distribute this screening tool to the demonstration sites, and to provide information on the screening tool to public libraries. An online version of the screening tool is available, along with other related early literacy information.