Challenge:

By age four, a child understands nearly three-quarters of the words he will use in future daily life. Many children’s language exposure is severely lacking during these years.

Solution:

Host read-aloud interventions in targeted areas of greatest need.

Learning to read comes later. Loving to read starts now.

Current research clearly shows that reading aloud is the number one activity that parents and caregivers can engage in with very young children to:

increase their language development
better their kindergarten readiness skills
optimize later school performance
foster a lifelong love of reading

Yet many families do not understand the importance of reading to children from infancy. Even the most well-intentioned parents can miss this critical window during the first years of their child’s life if they are not aware.

The Read Aloud Collaborative of Silicon Valley promotes, facilitates, and supports daily read-aloud interventions for parents and young children in areas specifically targeted for greatest need. The Collaborative brings together the resources, expertise, and leadership of local foundations, libraries, museums, nonprofit organizations and government agencies devoted to literacy efforts.

Bring Me A Book has partnered with FIRST 5 Santa Clara, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, Santa Clara County Office of Education, San Jose Public Library, Catholic Charities – Raising a Reader, Vision Literacy, Reach Out and Read, and Grail Family Services.

With the funding provided by FIRST 5 Santa Clara and Target Foundation, the Read Aloud Collaborative will launch its third Annual Target’s Festival of Books at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose on June 8, 2008. In addition, the Read Aloud Collaborative will be hosting five Festival of Books on Wheels this year in communities where members may not otherwise have a chance to receive literacy trainings, book making activities, read aloud lessons, and high-quality books.

To learn more please visit our Read Aloud Collaborative partners’ website:

first5kids.org, www.sjlibrary.org, www.reachoutandread.org, www.gfsfamilyservices.org, www.sccoe.org, www.visionliteracy.org, www.raisingareader.org/rar_sv.html, www.cdm.org