About Raising a reader
Raising a Reader: Empowering Children through Early Literacy and Parent Engagement
Raising a Reader is a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to promoting early literacy and parent engagement among children from birth to age eight. The organization offers an evidence-based program that has been proven to improve the reading readiness skills of young children, helping them develop the foundation they need for success in school and beyond.
At Raising a Reader, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to learn and grow through reading. We know that early literacy is critical for future success, as it lays the foundation for all other learning. That's why we have developed a comprehensive program that focuses on engaging parents and caregivers in their child's learning journey.
Our program is designed to be implemented by local agencies, such as schools, libraries, community centers, and healthcare providers. We provide these agencies with training, materials, and ongoing support so they can effectively deliver our program to families in their communities.
The Raising a Reader program consists of three main components: book rotation bags, parent workshops, and outreach events. Book rotation bags are sets of high-quality children's books that are rotated weekly or bi-weekly among families enrolled in the program. This ensures that children have access to a variety of books at home and encourages regular reading habits.
Parent workshops provide parents with information about early literacy development and strategies for supporting their child's learning at home. These workshops also help parents build connections with other families in their community who share similar goals for their children.
Outreach events are opportunities for Raising a Reader staff or volunteers to engage with families directly through fun activities like storytimes or book giveaways. These events help raise awareness about the importance of early literacy while also providing resources for families who may not be enrolled in our formal program.
One of the key strengths of our program is its evidence-based approach. Our model has been rigorously evaluated over many years by independent researchers who have found significant improvements in children's language development skills after participating in our program. This research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Pediatrics and Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Another strength of our model is its adaptability to different communities' needs. We work closely with local agencies to tailor our approach based on cultural norms or specific challenges facing families within each community we serve.
In addition to improving outcomes for individual children and families, Raising a Reader also contributes positively towards broader societal goals such as reducing educational disparities between low-income students versus those from more affluent backgrounds; increasing parental involvement; promoting family bonding; fostering social-emotional development; enhancing cognitive abilities; improving health outcomes (e.g., reducing obesity rates); strengthening communities by building social capital (i.e., networks) among participants across diverse backgrounds/ethnicities/geographies etc.; creating jobs/training opportunities etc..
Overall,Raising A reader provides an innovative solution towards addressing one of society’s most pressing issues-early childhood education-while simultaneously empowering parents/caregivers/families/communities towards achieving better outcomes across multiple domains including academic achievement,social-emotional well-being,and overall quality-of-life indicators.We invite you join us on this journey!