1 post tagged “literacy”

Regarding the importance of reading to children from an early age (MTCer's see comments here), an idea has occurred to me from time to time for a family literacy program. The idea is to establish an evening program where poor, at-risk families are encouraged by the prospect of free food and possibly even an hourly remuneration to attend reading workshops that last an hour or so each night. The setting is comfortable, friendly, and informal, but focused on reading and literacy, without the interruptions of television, cell phones, boyfriends, etc. For the first part of each session, the children (the younger the better) are read to by master reader volunteers (who could be teachers or advanced high school or middle school students) while the adults are taught literacy skills by trained adult literacy specialists. Later, since one important aim is to get parents in the habit of reading to their children, each adult is scheduled a formal, supervised time when they will read to their children, even if they have to rehearse a familiar storybook with help from a tutor. Overall, the emphasis is on encouraging regular attendence and participation while making adults and children alike comfortable with reading as an enjoyable family tradition.

It seems like a good idea in need of funding to me. Has the Barksdale Reading Institute considered anything like this?