Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is an evidence based nonprofit organization promoting early literacy and school
readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide. They've got 28,000 doctors, nurses and medical providers
raising awareness on the programs developed from their 14 published research studies.
Here's the 1, 2, 3's on their vital research:
- Reading aloud to children is the single most effective tool for developing language and literacy.
- The 3.9 million children served by Reach Out and Read enter kindergarten with a 6 month developmental edge.
- Currently, 34% of children enter kindergarten without the basic language skills they will need to learn to read.
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This link will take you to the Reach Out and Read website to learn more.
Read Across California in March
Did you know that California just passed a statewide resolution to celebrate the entire month of March
as Read Across CA Month? Did you know that the kickoff on
March 2nd is in conjunction with Read Across America Day
AND Dr. Seuss' birthday? Did you know that Be There Bedtime Stories built the website for
this important literacy campaign?
When we heard about the legislation marking March as Read Across California month, we were thrilled about a
campaign that was planning to promote reading 30 minutes a day for 30 days. What better way to keep the
activity of reading fresh and fun, and to share the activity with kids, than to read aloud to them in
front of your webcam! That's why each visitor may enjoy one FREE story from our website throughout the
kickoff weekend, on March 3rd and 4th!
But wait, there's more! We're celebrating all month long with our Buy One Get One FREE promotion - just
enter this code at checkout: readacrossca for unlimited discounts through March 31st. Each time you read,
you get a second one FREE - that's a 50% savings! We're passionate about literacy and proud to be Californians,
which is why we're celebrating this new holiday month with special discounts all month long!
Here's why storytelling with Webtime Stories™ is such a valuable experience for your family:
- A United States Department of Education analysis found that children who were read to
at least three times a week by a family member were almost twice as likely to score in
the top 25 percent reading level.
- Reading out loud to children increases their interest in mastering reading and
exposes children to proper vocabulary, grammar, and phrasing, and enhances the development
of their own reading skills.
- The Public Policy Institute of California’s report, “Lessons in Reading Reform: Finding
What Works” (2010), highlights the fact that struggling elementary and middle school
pupils who are given extra time for reading can make sizable gains in literacy.
- Webtime Stories™ isn't just reading - it's storytelling! These treasured recordings
will be enjoyed by your family today, but the storytelling experience can be shared
with future generations in your family 100 years from now!
Source: Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 62 (ACR 62) Relative to Read Across California Month
Reading Webtime Stories™ is a great way to engage with multi media while still reaping the benefits of reading
aloud to build literacy. Take a look around the store and dog-ear books to your account to record during
the month of March, so you can participate in the pledge to read 30 minutes a day for 30 days.
After all, a kid's college transcripts depend on it!
Developing Early Literacy
Conventional reading and writing skills that are developed in the years from birth to age 5 have a
clear and consistently strong relationship with later conventional literacy skills. Additionally,
six variables representing early literacy skills or precursor literacy skills had medium to large
predictive relationships with later measures of literacy development. These six variables not only
correlated with later literacy as shown by data drawn from multiple studies with large numbers of
children but also maintained their predictive power even when the role of other variables, such as
IQ or socioeconomic status (SES), were accounted for. These six variables include:
- alphabet knowledge (AK): knowledge of the names and sounds associated with printed letters
- phonological awareness (PA): the ability to detect, manipulate, or analyze the auditory
aspects of spoken language (including the ability to distinguish or segment words,
syllables, or phonemes), independent of meaning
- rapid automatic naming (RAN) of letters or digits: the ability to rapidly name a sequence of random letters or digits
- RAN of objects or colors: the ability to rapidly name a sequence of repeating random sets of pictures of objects (e.g., “car,” “tree,” “house,” “man”) or colors
Source: National Institute for Literacy
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NAEYC and IRA: Where We Stand on Learning to Read and Write
Literacy doesn’t begin at kindergarten—or even in preschool. Babies respond to adults talking to them;
1-year-olds point to pictures in books; and 2-year-olds chant nursery rhymes. These and other first steps lay the foundations for literacy.
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children
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Six Early Literacy Skills
Young children need a variety of skills to become successful readers. A panel of reading experts has determined that six specific early literacy skills become
the building blocks for later reading and writing. Research indicates that children who enter school with more of these skills are better able to benefit from the
reading instruction they receive when they arrive at school.
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