Why?
- Childcare centres can provide powerful learning opportunities essential for young children’s literacy learning
- Many children have few or no books to call their own in their home
How?
- A trained volunteer early literacy facilitator visits a childcare centre five times and facilitates a story time with children
- Since children learn best through building on something they already know, the same book is used in different ways throughout the program (e.g. with puppets, flannel board characters, acting the story out)
- At the end of the program, each child receives the featured story to take home, keep and share with their family
- Practical strategies, as well as resources for the classroom, are shared with childcare providers
Impact
- Children increase their interest in books and motivation for reading
- Children remember their stories – this is the first and essential step in children’s journey to “real” reading
- Over 500 books are distributed to children each year
- This goes beyond just storytelling to children; it helps to enhance the knowledge and skills of the childcare providers