“The developing brain triples in the first year alone and is virtually fully formed by the time a child enters kindergarten.” Source: Eliot, L. (1999). What’s Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.
Raising A Reader MA is an evidence-based early literacy program that helps families of young children (ages 0-5) develop, practice and maintain habits of reading together at home. Why? Research shows that the single most significant factor influencing a child’s lifelong achievement is being read to by their parents and adult caregivers before starting kindergarten.
So how do we do this?
The Model:
Raising A Reader MA works with low-income families in which reading aloud is least likely to occur because, among other reasons, parents have low literacy and/or English language skills, they lack information about the critical importance of early reading experiences, or they simply have no access to books, which for many are a luxury item they cannot afford.
- Engagement – Raising A Reader MA enhances literacy practices in the childcare setting, and engages program partners to support parents in establishing and maintaining regular read-aloud time at home.
- Training - Raising A Reader MA staff teach parents and early childhood professionals about read-aloud (dialogic) techniques that anyone can employ, and the importance of regular parent-child book sharing in promoting healthy brain development and school success.
- Tools – Raising A Reader MA works with a variety of early childhood professionals to rotate bright red bags filled with award-winning children’s books into the homes of families. Every week, children take home a book bag with a new selection of high quality, culturally and age-appropriate books. A “Read Aloud” video is produced in fourteen languages to give all parents the know-how and comfort they need to make the shared book experience successful, even if they cannot read.
- To learn more about Raising A Reader MA, please view our Dialogic Reading Video.