United Way: Grade Level Reading aims to boost literacy

Submitted by Judy Hanning on Thu, 2017-01-05 02:00
United Way’s Grade Level Reading program seeks to increase reading proficiency in Rapid City, South Dakota. The literacy program strongly feels that parents can help a child reach their goal be becoming an active participant in their child’s life by reading to them from the moment that they are born.

We want to get parents engaged into their child’s literacy,” Simons said. “We want them involved from birth to the rest of their life on, because parents are the first and foremost teachers.”

The program focuses mostly on families with lower income levels by the time the child reaches third grade. They distribute book bags to families with newborn babies to encourage early literacy. The free bag includes children’s books, various resources for parents, and teaching tools that stress the importance of a regular reading routine.
One of the ways to achieve that goal, according to United Way community impact director Danita Simons, is for parents to get active in their children’s educations and begin reading to them regularly from the moment they are born.
~ Rapid City Journal (SD)

Key Takeaways:

1
United Way’s Grade Level Reading program is all about getting young students reading.
2
Reading to your children from a young age is one of the best ways to get them interested in reading. Monkey see, monkey do.
3
They hope to get ignite a passion for knowledge in their youth and create lifelong learners.
Read the full article here:
http://www.readingrockets.org/news/united-way-grade-level-reading-aims-boost-literacy