New literacy program at LHSD
PEARCY — A shift toward multimedia devices in recent years has led to a decline in children reading with their families, but a Virginia man set out years ago to change all that.
Gary Anderson, founder of the Read to Them organization, presented a family literacy program to Lake Hamilton School
District teachers Tuesday that is designed to bring the community together. Anderson developed the One District, One Book program to get not only schoolchildren involved in reading, but school employees and families, too.
Steve Anderson, LHSD superintendent, said this is the first year for the district’s ODOB program, and in the days of multimedia, families sometimes get away from the simple act of sitting down and reading a book.
“Reading and literacy is so key to learning,” he said. Renae Carrouth, Lake Hamilton Family and Community coordinator, approached him about the program.
“Not only will this program increase literacy levels and the love for reading for Lake Hamilton students, it will also lead in to quality time with family. Lake Hamilton is excited to be one of the first districts in garland county to implement this program,” Carrouth said.
“It’s really an interesting concept of not just the children reading, not just the schoolteachers reading, but the whole family,” Steve Anderson said.
He said ODOB is not only a good way to educate children, but to promote a family atmosphere and build family bonds.
ODOB provides participating families with the same book and has parents or other family members read a chapter at a time to students. School employees across the district also read the book, creating an environment where students are immersed in the story everywhere they go. This year’s book is “The World According to Humphrey.”
“It is a very powerful program,” Gary Anderson said. “I guarantee when you implement it, it will be better than I can explain it to you.”
Anderson was a science teacher and school psychologist for more than 30 years, and said he always had a group of students who couldn’t read the books, which intrigued him. After years of evaluating students, he realized some just weren’t getting hooked on reading on their own, especially those who came from families that fell below the poverty line. In those families, there wasn’t as much of a focus on reading, he said.
It led to what Anderson calls the “third grade slide out,” where children become disengaged from academics or even angry with their education. Anderson tried various after- school projects, but said nothing worked. In 1995, he learned children in poverty listen to only 12 million words by the time they are school- aged, as opposed to the 42 million words children in well- off families hear. At that point, Anderson found the root of the problem.
“As a school psychologist, the thing that drives education is verbal skills,” he said.
Anderson’s Read to Them organization was born to educate families and schools on the importance of reading at home, and ODOB followed in 2003.
“It’s a family literacy program that saturates your community,” he said.
Past instances of ODOB had local businesses offering free items to those who came in and mentioned the book and a grocery store even placed stickers on the favorite food of the book’s main character.
“The reason this works so well is because it’s reinforced in the community,” Anderson said.
Anderson said studies have shown family literacy programs lead to several positive factors, such as children’s achievements improving in school, children attending school more regularly, parents’ attitudes about education improving and families becoming more involved in school. He added that the programs can also improve nutrition and health problems, home and community violence and social alienation.
Before implementing ODOB, five in 10 third- graders in one Virginia district passed state tests and eight in 10 passed after the program was put into place. Yet Anderson said it gives no extra work to teachers such as book reports, new lesson plans or grading. Following the story is all about fun and a trivia question after every chapter gives students the chance to win prizes.
Aside from the academic perspective of ODOB, the program also builds up parents as literacy leaders in the home. Anderson said students follow their families and having that leadership creates stronger family ties.
“Family is everything,” he said.