Put a little magic back in your life
A feature of RSVP’s Family Literacy program is Lucky the Dalmatian, the reading mascot, a stuffed toy that accompanies the students home along with reading books and a journal where families can write about what Lucky did while he was a visitor and which books he enjoyed.
If you have ever read a story to a child, you know what a magical experience it is to see a child sitting spellbound, anticipating the next words, eyes wide and completely engrossed. It’s those moments that shape how the child will think about books and reading for the rest of his/ her life.
What if you could influence that drive to learn to love reading and books?
Sixty-one percent of lowincome families in the USA have no books at all in their homes for their children, according to the U.S. Department of Education. As a result, these children begin school behind their more affluent peers and are often unable to catch up. How do we ensure that all students begin kindergarten on equal footing?
According to the experts, it all begins with books.
The more exposure to books a child has, the better they will perform.
RSVP recruits and trains volunteers to become preschool classroom readers. In Head Start classrooms in Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties and one preschool in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, RSVP volunteers reach 2,200-plus preschoolers through the Family Literacy program. Book drives, donations, grants and corporate partnerships ensure that books are provided for Head Start classrooms and that several books are gifted to children so they may begin to build their own home libraries and finally have books of their own.
Sherilyn Homans West is the family and community partnerships supervisor with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and works with 26 Head Start and nine Pre-K Counts classrooms.
“A typical Head Start classroom has 20 students of multiple races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds,” she reports. “The typical student is 3 to 5 years old and living in a low socio-economic status. Many of our children have not been exposed to reading or books on a regular basis. We teach them how to hold a book properly, learn about characters and themes, recognize patterns and care for books.”
RSVP’s Family Literacy volunteers typically visit their assigned classroom weekly. They often select and bring a book they know will excite the students. Many will bring along items that enhance the reading experience and bring the story to life for the children. The students get very excited when they know a volunteer will be visiting to read and will sit quietly in anticipation to hear the story. When children are read to aloud, they acquire a stronger vocabulary and are able to develop the critical early literacy skills they will need when they enter school.
“Having a volunteer in the classroom provides another opportunity for students to engage in a oneon-one basis, which is invaluable,” Homans West said. “The volunteers provide children with another caring adult to guide them and excite them about reading.”
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