Partners of our Early Child Literacy program who started families they serve in our home reading program in 2009 are now reporting results of their at-risk families.
These parents are poverty-low income level, usually with low interest in literacy. Their children are the demographic that becomes at-risk to fail in Kindergarten, stay 2 years behind age mates throughout school and are 3 to 4 times more likely to drop out of school before graduation.
After only 4 months following the parent tips given in "Enjoy Books with Children" presented by their home visitors to them, there has been a transformation.
These parents have children from Infant through five years old. "Some parents were very hesitant about reading in the beginning but once they started they began to realize that they could read with their child. Mothers began to see the interest shown by their children and found it a great source of parent/child activity.", the director of a family service shared.
Starting at age 1 year old parents reading Teddy Bear's Favorite Pictures with their child saw an increase in the child's ability to relate to a book. This study group had children ranging up to 5 years old, with the largest age concentration 2-4years old.
Most of these parents now read 5 times a week, for an average of 9-12 minutes a day, which exceeds the success metrics for four months into the program. 85% liked reading this book with their child with at least 90% using the "Parents Points" step-by-step guidelines.
This program continues with a second results report at 8 months into the program. Literacy for Tykes hopes these new reading habits will become a welcome part of everyday life for these families. At the end of our year-long program, we encourage parents to get library cards at regional libraries to continue their exploration of the wonderful world of books.
We are delighted with the results of this study group which exceeds our expectations. The first long-range goal of Early Child Literacy Partnership is to create confidence and interest in parents that reading daily to their child for 20 minutes a day is do-able and beneficial and FUN. The second long-range goal is that this parent/child interaction will nurture visual literacy skills and lifelong learning skills, as well as social skills that will better prepare each child for kindergarten and life success.
Based on these successful results we would like to expand this Early Child Literacy Program to nine counties at the 4 year old level for other at-risk poverty-low income level families in rural Virginia, as well as continue to supply books and materials to current partners. Literacy is a perennial issue in this region. We believe this program is repeatable with most at-risk populations.
To support this program please use Literacy for Tykes Main Website Link on the right side of this page which will take you to our Paypal button on www.LiteracyForTykes.com
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Beyond Equality: Unlock Your Personal Power
Current parents have inherited the drive to find equality from their parents. A long-standing foment of women's rights upset the status-quo significantly some fifty years ago. Though women had long since gained the right to vote, bra-burning Women's Liberation movement wanted a complete overhaul of gender role definition.
I was a 18 yrs old at the time, and have observed and lived through much of the aftermath of the gender revolution.
The basic problem with the stance of gender revolt is you start with the idea "I am not being treated as equal to others (men)." The question became "What do I have to do to be treated equally?" The answer that many women chose in the late 60's early 70's was to leave the primary place of homemaker and get a job. This was not always a well thought out process. Oftentimes the jobs available for the training a woman had then were low-paying. The children she had at home still needed to be cared for, and frequently after the free relatives got burnt out, the cost of a babysitter used up what was left after expense of work clothes, lunches and transportation to job.
Yet many women felt driven to prove their equality to men, in the work place. That said, childcare was not even an industry yet. Who took care of the children was based on availability and affordability; not ability and accountability. The thinking of the time was nurturing children was something any woman could do naturally, and was second-rate to the imagined status a woman could attain in the "promised land" of the work world. Little thought was given to the quality of care the children received: "Park them with someone who was willing to watch them".
As a result, many children then did not receive some of the basic early child education that we look for today. The irony is that those same children of yesteryear are the parents of today's children. Some of these many parents are frustrated, caught between today's research that demands their parenting interaction and the deficits they may still face because they had not received that level of parental interaction themselves.
A specific example is early child reading (literacy) : Today it is well-understood through years of educational research, that where many dropouts were neglected comes back to their early years. No books in the home is one thing they have in common. This implies that their parents had little interest in reading also. This can be traced back to the previous generation of parents who spent little time reading to them when they were children, and babysitters who did not see themselves as educators either. If they did not have the recommended lap-reading before kindergarten, these parents of today may have struggled themselves with literacy when they were in school. As a result, reading would not be their favorite thing. They would not feel confident that they knew enough about reading to introduce it to their child. They would disconnect from literacy as important. Somehow they "made it" without all that, so would their Aston or Tiffany.
Another look at early child research can give a key to unlock this trap, that even parents who don't regard themselves as educators do have the power to help their babies and toddlers develop lifelong learning skills for a brighter future. Though they may have had to struggle through school when they were younger themselves, they would be surprised how easy it is to share a picture book with their child. Research shows that as little as 20 minutes a day, sharing the characteristics of pictures in a book with a child, in a cuddly happy way, can give that child many kinds of preparation and nurture needed.
See Teddy Bear's Favorite Pictures by Nancy Cloyd on amazon.com/books/children for simple guidelines (for parents with tired brains) as how to share a pleasant nurturing quality time with toddlers and up. On that website, you can sample the pages of the book to see this simple method. When followed in a loving happy way, "reading pictures" with their child 20 minutes a day is the key. Recommend it to any reluctant-to- read parents you know to get them started. They can unlock their personal power to make life better for their child.
I was a 18 yrs old at the time, and have observed and lived through much of the aftermath of the gender revolution.
The basic problem with the stance of gender revolt is you start with the idea "I am not being treated as equal to others (men)." The question became "What do I have to do to be treated equally?" The answer that many women chose in the late 60's early 70's was to leave the primary place of homemaker and get a job. This was not always a well thought out process. Oftentimes the jobs available for the training a woman had then were low-paying. The children she had at home still needed to be cared for, and frequently after the free relatives got burnt out, the cost of a babysitter used up what was left after expense of work clothes, lunches and transportation to job.
Yet many women felt driven to prove their equality to men, in the work place. That said, childcare was not even an industry yet. Who took care of the children was based on availability and affordability; not ability and accountability. The thinking of the time was nurturing children was something any woman could do naturally, and was second-rate to the imagined status a woman could attain in the "promised land" of the work world. Little thought was given to the quality of care the children received: "Park them with someone who was willing to watch them".
As a result, many children then did not receive some of the basic early child education that we look for today. The irony is that those same children of yesteryear are the parents of today's children. Some of these many parents are frustrated, caught between today's research that demands their parenting interaction and the deficits they may still face because they had not received that level of parental interaction themselves.
A specific example is early child reading (literacy) : Today it is well-understood through years of educational research, that where many dropouts were neglected comes back to their early years. No books in the home is one thing they have in common. This implies that their parents had little interest in reading also. This can be traced back to the previous generation of parents who spent little time reading to them when they were children, and babysitters who did not see themselves as educators either. If they did not have the recommended lap-reading before kindergarten, these parents of today may have struggled themselves with literacy when they were in school. As a result, reading would not be their favorite thing. They would not feel confident that they knew enough about reading to introduce it to their child. They would disconnect from literacy as important. Somehow they "made it" without all that, so would their Aston or Tiffany.
Another look at early child research can give a key to unlock this trap, that even parents who don't regard themselves as educators do have the power to help their babies and toddlers develop lifelong learning skills for a brighter future. Though they may have had to struggle through school when they were younger themselves, they would be surprised how easy it is to share a picture book with their child. Research shows that as little as 20 minutes a day, sharing the characteristics of pictures in a book with a child, in a cuddly happy way, can give that child many kinds of preparation and nurture needed.
See Teddy Bear's Favorite Pictures by Nancy Cloyd on amazon.com/books/children for simple guidelines (for parents with tired brains) as how to share a pleasant nurturing quality time with toddlers and up. On that website, you can sample the pages of the book to see this simple method. When followed in a loving happy way, "reading pictures" with their child 20 minutes a day is the key. Recommend it to any reluctant-to- read parents you know to get them started. They can unlock their personal power to make life better for their child.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Plea to Decision Makers: At Least Maintain Early Child Ed We Now Have!
Our country is feeling the trickle-down impact of extended financial recession. In the last week, we are told by President on down to states and local school systems that the only thing they know for sure is we have less money to fund everything. Our school superintendents use generalizations and categories to vaguely describe where cuts must be made. "We will work out the shortfalls of Fiscal Year 2010 and reduced budget of Fiscal Year 2011 together" said our local Superintendent. Was he trying to make the local board feel better because he is a team player?
Administrators administrate. Its consoling in a broad way to see in the newspaper that a team of administrators with various points of view, various takes on what works and what helps the teachers teach and the kids learn will be having long debates before deciding the fate of public education.
Teachers will have to comply with their decisions, with some losing their jobs. Beyond them, we are the public; our children or our neighbor's children will be the ultimate recipients of the administrators discernment. What will we still have for our kids? What will we lose?? It is a critical hour in the history of public education.
What do I want to say about public education's impact on early child education?
Headstart is a much beleaguered attempt to bring some education to the poorest children in our land. The theory of Headstart is solid. It has been suffering from inconsistent funding from on high, especially from 2000-2008. The theories of getting the parents involved as active partners in their 4 yr old's preparation for kindergarten is important. The directors and teachers of Headstarts often have found their good theories and excellent strategies thwarted by lack of funds in the past. We hear much about increasing support of them in the past year. But what now?
In many states there are State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens. These were established in response to the number of children who either exceeded the number of places in mandated Headstart class sizes, or whose families slightly exceeded the mandated income limit. These low income families also cannot afford any private educational helps for their children, but they come to pre-screen hoping that they will get into State-Funded Pre-K if not Headstart. They have not given their child the beginning education at home that they would like their child to have to prepare for kindergarten.
The directors and head teachers of these classes also know that parents need to be encouraged to be partners in their child's preparation for lifelong learning. They all know that learning is best started in the home. Yet even these well-meaning teachers best ideas and strategies have been limited by funding shortfalls in the past.
These publicly funded early child educators have been fighting the good fight to bring attention to the needs of our youngest citizens. They have been doing their best with funds that are made available to them. They have established contact with most of the low-income parents aware enough to seek help for their little ones. I believe they are one vital connection, to relieve the early literacy crisis that looms across our land, that we cannot afford to cutback.
Literacy for Tykes' work has been through various human service and educational services who have identified at-risk children. Headstarts and State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens have been two of the partner organizations who by their nature identify such needy families /children. The beauty of working with parents who have come to these groups is that the parents' interest self-selects them as caring enough to possibly follow through with books given them for home reading. Our fund raising has made available an excellent home-reading program to these educational groups that nicely complements what they are able to do with their funding. Our books and materials are completely in keeping with their philosophies of parent involvement.
We all know that home-language development and home-reading need to be the first learning experiences dictated by the way children really learn. For those parents who have not started home reading of pictures books on their own, these educational groups have been able to encourage them to do so. Our materials have found a workable distribution and continued use through the enthusiastic response of these educators and our other partners.
In summary, I am saying to all decision makers, please continue to fund both Headstarts and State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens. Look elsewhere to cut expenses. See my many other blogs to understand the whole picture of how vital it is to give every possible child the best start toward a life of learning and making a good life for themselves in the future. We all benefit.
Administrators administrate. Its consoling in a broad way to see in the newspaper that a team of administrators with various points of view, various takes on what works and what helps the teachers teach and the kids learn will be having long debates before deciding the fate of public education.
Teachers will have to comply with their decisions, with some losing their jobs. Beyond them, we are the public; our children or our neighbor's children will be the ultimate recipients of the administrators discernment. What will we still have for our kids? What will we lose?? It is a critical hour in the history of public education.
What do I want to say about public education's impact on early child education?
Headstart is a much beleaguered attempt to bring some education to the poorest children in our land. The theory of Headstart is solid. It has been suffering from inconsistent funding from on high, especially from 2000-2008. The theories of getting the parents involved as active partners in their 4 yr old's preparation for kindergarten is important. The directors and teachers of Headstarts often have found their good theories and excellent strategies thwarted by lack of funds in the past. We hear much about increasing support of them in the past year. But what now?
In many states there are State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens. These were established in response to the number of children who either exceeded the number of places in mandated Headstart class sizes, or whose families slightly exceeded the mandated income limit. These low income families also cannot afford any private educational helps for their children, but they come to pre-screen hoping that they will get into State-Funded Pre-K if not Headstart. They have not given their child the beginning education at home that they would like their child to have to prepare for kindergarten.
The directors and head teachers of these classes also know that parents need to be encouraged to be partners in their child's preparation for lifelong learning. They all know that learning is best started in the home. Yet even these well-meaning teachers best ideas and strategies have been limited by funding shortfalls in the past.
These publicly funded early child educators have been fighting the good fight to bring attention to the needs of our youngest citizens. They have been doing their best with funds that are made available to them. They have established contact with most of the low-income parents aware enough to seek help for their little ones. I believe they are one vital connection, to relieve the early literacy crisis that looms across our land, that we cannot afford to cutback.
Literacy for Tykes' work has been through various human service and educational services who have identified at-risk children. Headstarts and State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens have been two of the partner organizations who by their nature identify such needy families /children. The beauty of working with parents who have come to these groups is that the parents' interest self-selects them as caring enough to possibly follow through with books given them for home reading. Our fund raising has made available an excellent home-reading program to these educational groups that nicely complements what they are able to do with their funding. Our books and materials are completely in keeping with their philosophies of parent involvement.
We all know that home-language development and home-reading need to be the first learning experiences dictated by the way children really learn. For those parents who have not started home reading of pictures books on their own, these educational groups have been able to encourage them to do so. Our materials have found a workable distribution and continued use through the enthusiastic response of these educators and our other partners.
In summary, I am saying to all decision makers, please continue to fund both Headstarts and State-Funded Pre-Kindergartens. Look elsewhere to cut expenses. See my many other blogs to understand the whole picture of how vital it is to give every possible child the best start toward a life of learning and making a good life for themselves in the future. We all benefit.
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