Reading is Terrific Program
Reading is Terrific is a literacy program for children just learning to read. The objective is to interest children in reading, improve their reading skills, and expand their vocabulary.
The program does the following:- Selects a group of children, usually a first
grade class, that could use special attention to encourage reading.
We use elementary schools that qualify for the government's Title 1
program.
- On a monthly basis, meet with the children and read them a
book appropriate for their age.
- Give each child a copy of the book for their own.
- Continue meeting with the same group of children for the entire school year. By the end of the year, the child will have acquired their own small library of books.
The following information is a quotation from the article "Making a Difference; Stamping out Illiteracy" by Geraldine L. Haggard
"A study by the Packard and McArthur Foundation states that children from middle class homes have had 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading by the time they enter school. Children at the poverty level have had only 25 hours of one-on-one reading. In The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, Newman and Stanford found that they best way to improve the literacy growth of these children is to increase access to print. Public and school libraries can help; however the only behavior measure that is significantly related to improved reading scores is the number of books in the home. Children from low-income homes have to own books."
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