Summer: Time to Read to Achieve

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/summer-reading NULL.jpg)Summer reading is essential to maintain and expand a child’s literacy skills. Recent studies show that summer reading loss plays one of the most significant roles in the widening achievement gap. If students are encouraged to “relax” all summer and they don’t have access to books, reading levels are negatively impacted.

These studies show that the solution to summer reading loss is to provide children with access to a variety of books and set shared reading times or routines. Below are some great tips on how to make reading an integral part of your child’s summer.

Visit the Library. Engage in storytelling activities and borrow children’s books, music, and books on tape.

• San Francisco Public Library summer reading page: http://ca.evanced.info/sfpl/sr/homepage.asp?ProgramID=12 (http://ca NULL.evanced NULL.info/sfpl/sr/homepage NULL.asp?ProgramID=12).
• Oakland Public Library “Kids’ Word” page: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/links/kids/index.html (http://www NULL.oaklandlibrary NULL.org/links/kids/index NULL.html).

Read outside. Enjoy a picnic in the park with snacks and games. Afterward, read books together before heading home.

Build vocabulary. Visit festivals, fairs, museums, and parks. Describe what you saw, heard, and felt at the event on the way home.

Create a fun reading journal. Draw a picture together related to the book of the day. If your child is willing, have her/him dictate a brief caption for you to write under each drawing. If your child gets excited about keeping a daily log, keep a running list of all the books she/he read over the summer.

Reader’s theater. Read your child’s favorite book, and the following day act out the story. Invite family members to participate as fellow actors, or use puppets made out of paper bags to illustrate the story.

Research: Education Gap Growing Between Rich and Poor

A recent New York Times article, “Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say,” discusses the growing achievement gap in the U.S., which has widened by 40 percent since the 1960s, and is likely to further exacerbate the disparities between economic classes.

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/with-parents NULL.jpg)“One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children’s schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources,” the New York Times reports.

“This has been particularly true as more parents try to position their children for college, which has become ever more essential for success in today’s economy,” the article says.

Raising A Reader was founded to tackle the achievement gap before it happens, by increasing early childhood literacy in low-income communities. To read more about Raising A Reader and find out how you can help, visit our website: http://www.rarbayarea.org (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/)/.

For the entire NYT article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-between-rich-and-poor-studies-show.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=achievement%20gap&st=cse&scp=1 (http://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-between-rich-and-poor-studies-show NULL.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=achievement%20gap&st=cse&scp=1)

Recommended Read Aloud Books

Raising A Reader provides training for parents and educators (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/site-support/) on interactive read alouds and early literacy. This week we highlight some great books that can that serve as additional resources.

(http://images NULL.betterworldbooks NULL.com/080/Reading-Grows-9780807568989 NULL.jpg)
Reading Grows by Ellen B. Senisi (http://www NULL.ellensenisi NULL.com/6 NULL.html)

This photo essay depicts ways parents can interact with their child(ren) to grow their brains and learn to love reading. “Senisi’s photos and text combine to show parents and children that reading is learned in steps.”

Help Me Get Ready To Read :A Practical Guide For Reading Aloud To Children During Their First Five Years by Susan Marx & Barbara Kasok (http://www NULL.readaloudguide NULL.com/)

This  easy to read guide includes  recommended book lists for infants, toddlers, and  preschoolers; literacy extension activities which focus on the early literacy skill development; and rhymes, fingerplays, and songs.

The Read-Aloud Handbook  by Jim Trealese (http://www NULL.trelease-on-reading NULL.com/index NULL.html)

A classic and indepth exploration of on the topic, The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelese discusses the “ways” and “whys” of raising a reader. This book contains  an annotated bibliography of almost 1000 children’s books for all ages.

 
Reading aloud with a children helps them  feel comfortable, confident, and competent which are important indicators of school readiness and lifelong success.  Happy reading!

KIT Camp

San Francisco Unified School District’s KIT (Kindergarteners In Training) Camp is up and running and partnering with local organizations to help support a smooth transition into Kindergarten for San Francisco’s youth. Raising A Reader (RAR) is offering the participating Kindergarten classes weekly read aloud sessions in the classroom and is one of the main presenters at the camp’s Family Literacy Nights. June 14^th kicked off the first Family Literacy Night; hosted by SFUSD, Raising A Reader and San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Families were provided with a dinner, while the SFPL offered library services. Parents were able to fill out library card applications and board the Book Mobile with their children; where library cards were distributed and books were checked out. RAR and SFPL then joined forces in the cafeteria and presented two interactive stories. RAR ended the evening with the parents by facilitating a conversation about early literacy skills, brain development, and the importance of maintaining healthy reading habits in the home.

On the other side of the Bay, program coordinators have been talking to parents about preventing the “summer slide” (http://www NULL.scholastic NULL.com/resources/article/three-ways-to-prevent-summer-slide) by maintaining reading routines throughout the summer and visiting local libraries (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/2011/05/summer-reading-season/). Parent are provided handouts with tips on promoting the six early literacy skills and kindergarten readiness.

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/6earlylitskills NULL.png)

(http://www NULL.appliedsurveyresearch NULL.org/projects/KSRA_2008/reports/SanMateoCounty_SchoolReadinessAssessment2008-FinalReport NULL.pdf)

Diagram from the San Mateo School Readiness Assessment (http://www NULL.appliedsurveyresearch NULL.org/projects/KSRA_2008/reports/SanMateoCounty_SchoolReadinessAssessment2008-FinalReport NULL.pdf), 2008. Page 54
This core set of skills reflects the five dimensions of readiness articulated by the National Education Goals Panel.

June 21  is Summer Learning Day (http://www NULL.sfgate NULL.com/cgi-bin/blogs/jpeck/detail?entry_id=91219)

This national advocacy day is a great opportunity to showcase summer reading programs and get the word out about the importance of continued learning. (http://www NULL.summerlearning NULL.org/?page=summer_learning_day)

Summer learning programs:

• help participants maintain and advance academic and developmental growth
• support working families
• keep children safe and healthy
• send young people back to school ready to learn

Myths & Truths about Bilingualism

On Saturday February 12th, Raising a Reader Coordinators, Sara Rizik-Baer and Jo McConnell, presented RAR’s new workshop, “Myths and Truths of Bilingualism: Supporting English Learners through Literacy” at  Jumpstart’s annual Early Childhood Education Academy. The event  held at San Francisco State University provided Jumpstart (http://jumpstart-sf NULL.sfsu NULL.edu/)Corps members with an opportunity to utilize scientific evidence to dispel common myths about bilingualism and language development. Participants brainstormed and modeled strategies to  support English language development in the classroom that will respect and support  students’ diverse home languages. Fun and learning was achieved by all!

Five common myths are addressed below:

Myth: Children who are exposed to more than one language get confused.
Truth: Young children have the brain capacity and the neural flexibility for learning two or more languages without becoming confused.

Myth: Bilingual children are slower than monolingual children in developing speech.
Truth: There is no evidence regarding a later age in developing speech for  bilingual children.

Myth: Mixing languages or ‘code switching’ is a sign of the child being confused.
Truth: ‘Code switching’ is a normal part of bilingual language development and a  common communication strategy for bilingual children & adults.

Myth: Home language interferes with children’s ability to learn English.
Truth: Home language does not interfere with the ability to learn English. In fact, a strong foundation in the home language positively impacts the learning of a  second language

Myth: Children can learn a second language very quickly.
Truth: It takes two years for children to incorporate a conversational level in a second language, and five to seven years to achieve an academic level (i.e., school related skills – language of text).

**Developed by: SCMOE Early Childhood Language Development Institute**

To learn more on this topic read:

Psychology Today’s article  Myths about Bilingualism (http://www NULL.psychologytoday NULL.com/blog/life-bilingual/201010/myths-about-bilingualism-0)

Linda M. Espinosa’s article Challenging Common Myths about Young English Language Learners (http://www NULL.claytonearlylearning NULL.org/files/espinosaarticle NULL.pdf)

Early Education Podcast

Early Ed Watch (http://earlyed NULL.newamerica NULL.net/blogmain) spoke with Gabrielle Miller, national executive director for Raising A Reader (http://www NULL.raisingareader NULL.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rar_homepage), about the skills that influence a child’s reading success. By working with Head Start centers, childcare centers, school districts and other community groups, Raising A Reader circulates 100 books each year to participating families. Family book reading and library usage has gone up among participants and a study (http://www NULL.raisingareader NULL.org/site/DocServer/san_francisco_2003 NULL.pdf?docID=138) in San Francisco County in 2003 showed that preschool children in the program scored higher than their peers on assessments of pre-reading, comprehension and book knowledge.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/early-ed-podcast-012511 NULL.mp3)

Source: http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2011/podcast_parents_books_and_the_roots_of_literacy-43283 (http://earlyed NULL.newamerica NULL.net/blogposts/2011/podcast_parents_books_and_the_roots_of_literacy-43283)

Helping to Close the Achievement Gap

Yesterday morning National Public Radio  aired a story on Closing The Achievement Gap With Baby Talk (http://www NULL.npr NULL.org/2011/01/10/132740565/closing-the-achievement-gap-with-baby-talk) by Alix Spiegel.

When Raising A Reader staff goes out into the field to train child care providers we often quote the Hart & Risley research, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, published in 1995.

According to their research, the average child in a welfare home heard about 600 words an hour while a child in a professional home heard 2,100.

“Children in professional families are talked to three times as much as the average child in a welfare family,” Hart says.

And that adds up. Hart and Risley estimated that by the age of 4, children of professional parents had heard on average 48 million words addressed to them while children in poor welfare families had heard only 13 million.

It was no wonder that the underprivileged children they saw at their preschool could not catch up and often lagged behind once they went to school. They simply weren’t getting the experience with language provided to their peers.

-Spiegel, 2010.

Raising A Reader empowers families to build daily book-sharing routines which contribute to rich language development.  Each week in San Francisco and Alameda Counties, children take home a bright red bag, filled with high-quality, developmentally appropriate, multilingual and multicultural children’s books. This simple routine, sustained weekly by the educators and caregivers who implement the program, is the key to engaging families in the joyful practice of daily book-sharing: a practice that fosters early brain development, strengthens social and emotional development, builds early literacy skills, and ensures that children enter kindergarten ready to learn.

With your suppor (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/get-involved/sponsor-a-reader/)t and the work of early literacy specialists, Raising A Reader will continue to close that gap.