The second installment of a two-part series, this week's Lock On Literacy reports on another of EPIC's early literacy programs, Ready-Set-Read!
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”- Frederick Douglass
Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass found his path to freedom, and by his own proclamation, found it through reading. Fighting the tyranny of repression, Douglass discovered something that all book-loving citizens can attest to – there are benefits to literacy that are life-altering.
According to the office of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, 30% of Buffalonians cannot read, write, speak, and listen for information and understanding. They are unable to read the newspaper; fill out job applications; and in many instances, to competently perform many jobs, Simply put, within Western New York, nearly one out of three people are not sufficiently literate and therefore have a deficit that impacts every part of their lives.
It’s no surprise to any of us that children who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of school prior to graduation. Historically, those who do not learn to read and write are more likely to commit crimes, and end up in jail than those who develop strong literacy skills. One area program, sponsored by non-profit Every Person Influences Children (EPIC), is determined to provide parents with the tools they need to help their children become readers. Based on the notion that Family Literacy creates children who can read, Ready-Set-Read! is designed to reach out to parents who need an extra boost in developing a literacy-rich environment at home.
“An Active Learning Model really encourages parents to come up with their own ideas about how they can help their children at home,” says Jeffrey Bell, Director of Development and Marketing at EPIC. “A facilitator goes to where the parents are, and starts a conversation.”
A community-based program funded by donations by the Ronald McDonald House of WNY, the Children’s Foundation of WNY and others, Ready-Set-Read! provides family support services, most notably parenting skills and literacy education. Not only does EPIC provide parent education workshops directly in their center, but they piggy-back on to other workshops, slipping in during the lunch break or at the end of continuing education seminars for example.
Partnering with an array of local agencies, including refugee centers, battered women shelters and local GED programs, EPIC seeks out an audience that often slips through the cracks. "These are parents who don't have confidence to seek out help," explains Bell.
EPIC is determined to bring the program to the parents, providing trained specialists to assist in developing literacy skill – which in turn, they can use to help their children at home. What Bell describes as a “strength-based system”, Ready-Set Read! begins with parents offering advice and sharing tips. Once the ideas begin to flow, the facilitator makes suggestions aimed at improving parents’ understanding of how learning occurs through active involvement with books.
Following an initial adult-oriented session within the framework of other programs, participants are encouraged to bring their children to the Parent Involvement Center for additional training. Here, specialists gently guide parents as they work with their young children, sometimes even providing transportation to and from the workshops. There are actually seven sessions in all for parents, covering an array of topics from how to develop phonemic awareness, vocabulary and comprehension in young children to choosing quality books for their home. "We are teaching parents to be their child's first teacher," says Bell, and the outcomes are proof that it works. Parent surveys indicate that as many as 45% pf participants report putting what they learned the workshops into practice. Their confidence in communicating with their child's school, as well as in their own ability to support their child's learning increased as well.
Parents participating in the workshops not only get advice and training, but hands on instruction, and perhaps most importanly, a confidence boost. All of this, of course, is free of charge.
If you’d like to become involved, or to get more information, check out EPIC,
http://www.epicforchildren.org
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Ready-Set-Parent!
Do you remember your favorite book from when you were a child? I bet you do. One, which you maybe flipped through so many times the pages yellowed? How about your earliest memory of sitting on your parent’s lap, reading about Mother Goose and her wayward friends, or that lying Pinnochio and his poor wooden nose? I do. My favorite was Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, a copy of which I still keep today.
Can you imagine a life without text? Without words? When you were sitting there with a grown-up, you were getting so much more out of it than a lesson on honesty. Whether you know it or not, reading at home taught you concepts about print, how to read from left to right, and from top to bottom. You learned to feel comfortable with text, and that words have meaning. Now imagine a home with no books. And consider what it would be like if your parent never read to you. Sadly, this is the experience of thousands of local children.
As an educator, a literacy specialist, and a passionate reader and writer, I have researched and interacted with dozens of literacy programs, both school and community based. I have found we tend to focus on reading, writing and speaking within the framework of schools, and justifiably so. Parents, as a whole aren’t trained to teach their children to read and write. In schools, students are exposed to books, drilled in the relationship between sound and letters, and taught the basic sight words needed as the basis of strong literacy development. These things happen routinely, beginning at age five when the typical Western New York child starts formal schooling, but really, it isn’t enough.
Recently, I was excited to learn about one locally based program I had to check out. Aimed at helping new parents, and sponsored dually by non-profits EPIC (Every Person Influences Children) and Baker Victory Services, Ready-Set Parent! is a free, community based set of interventions and workshops. Focused on helping at-risk families learn the value in play and in creating a literacy-rich environment within the home, Ready-Set-Parent! provides moms with information and the tools they need to use it. Answering questions, and gifting children’s books, trained specialists ensure babies born in local Buffalo area hospitals have resources to give their babies the very best start possible.
I spoke with Jeffrey Bell, the Director of Development and Marketing for EPIC, who clearly shared my excitement over putting books into the hands of babies. The first thing I discovered, surprisingly, is that Ready-Set-Parent! makes direct contact with at least sixty percent of all new mothers who give birth at Sisters Hospital, Mercy Hospital or Women and Children’s Hospital of Western New York.
Asked about funding a community based parenting education program, Bell described it as tricky, but positive. This past year, Ready-Set-Parent! was verbally ensured a two-hundred thousand dollar earmark, which was later (not surprising to anyone in this fiscal climate) junked by legislators. Funding, as with all non-profits, depends on the year. Supported by some small philanthropic donations, The United Way, as well as both the Catholic Health Services, they receive some direct payment for portions of the program from Health Insurance companies. The literacy component of this initiative is an extra, able to be tacked on to nutrition and wellness education that occurs right in the hospital rooms.
Over the years, Bell said, the level of educational programming within area maternity wards has declined due to restricted funding, frugal minded hospitals instead opting for the most basic of medical care for their new moms. Bell sees Ready-Set-Parent! as filling the gap between medical services and needed family support services.
Describing the families they serve as well intentioned but overwhelmed, and often isolated, Bell identifies the value in bringing the support directly to the hospital. Sometimes working two jobs, frequently teenage mothers estranged from their own parents, these folks usually won’t seek out help on their own. Bell says these new moms typically welcome the help.
Partnering with Baker Victory Services’ Health and Nutrition programming, EPIC facilitates visits from community-based grant funded specialists. These specially trained community members are people who can relate to those they are serving. “People are more comfortable taking parenting advice from someone they can relate to,” says Bell. So EPIC sets up sessions right in the hospitals. Bringing a uniquely crafted version of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon”, specialists aim to build relationships with new moms, which translates into a positive parenting education program. The book, encased in a special cover containing step-by-step instructions on how to read to an infant, also includes an application to the Buffalo and Erie County Library. Moms are encouraged to seek advice and ask questions in a private setting, and are provided with information about how to engage their baby in educational play and develop a literacy rich home.
In short, they piece together enough money to give new moms books, and teach them how to use them. Considering that the greatest brain development in our lives occurs before we even begin school-I’d say this program is key to supporting a well-educated Western New York Community.
Obviously, illiteracy isn’t called a societal ill for nothing. You may know that children who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of school prior to graduation, but did you know that historically, those who do not learn to read and write are more likely to commit crimes, and end up in jail than those who develop strong literacy skills? Students who graduate from high school have a higher lifetime income earning potential, making it less likely they will end up seeking welfare and public assistance. Most importantly, the ability to communicate successfully improves quality of life, positively improving a person’s contributions to their community.
We can all support literacy development within our WNY community. Consider becoming a Literacy volunteer, or supporting fundraising for literacy programming!
For registration information, contact EPIC at (716)332-4153.
To find out how EPIC can help YOU, check out their website: http://www.epicforchildren.org
Can you imagine a life without text? Without words? When you were sitting there with a grown-up, you were getting so much more out of it than a lesson on honesty. Whether you know it or not, reading at home taught you concepts about print, how to read from left to right, and from top to bottom. You learned to feel comfortable with text, and that words have meaning. Now imagine a home with no books. And consider what it would be like if your parent never read to you. Sadly, this is the experience of thousands of local children.
As an educator, a literacy specialist, and a passionate reader and writer, I have researched and interacted with dozens of literacy programs, both school and community based. I have found we tend to focus on reading, writing and speaking within the framework of schools, and justifiably so. Parents, as a whole aren’t trained to teach their children to read and write. In schools, students are exposed to books, drilled in the relationship between sound and letters, and taught the basic sight words needed as the basis of strong literacy development. These things happen routinely, beginning at age five when the typical Western New York child starts formal schooling, but really, it isn’t enough.
Recently, I was excited to learn about one locally based program I had to check out. Aimed at helping new parents, and sponsored dually by non-profits EPIC (Every Person Influences Children) and Baker Victory Services, Ready-Set Parent! is a free, community based set of interventions and workshops. Focused on helping at-risk families learn the value in play and in creating a literacy-rich environment within the home, Ready-Set-Parent! provides moms with information and the tools they need to use it. Answering questions, and gifting children’s books, trained specialists ensure babies born in local Buffalo area hospitals have resources to give their babies the very best start possible.
I spoke with Jeffrey Bell, the Director of Development and Marketing for EPIC, who clearly shared my excitement over putting books into the hands of babies. The first thing I discovered, surprisingly, is that Ready-Set-Parent! makes direct contact with at least sixty percent of all new mothers who give birth at Sisters Hospital, Mercy Hospital or Women and Children’s Hospital of Western New York.
Asked about funding a community based parenting education program, Bell described it as tricky, but positive. This past year, Ready-Set-Parent! was verbally ensured a two-hundred thousand dollar earmark, which was later (not surprising to anyone in this fiscal climate) junked by legislators. Funding, as with all non-profits, depends on the year. Supported by some small philanthropic donations, The United Way, as well as both the Catholic Health Services, they receive some direct payment for portions of the program from Health Insurance companies. The literacy component of this initiative is an extra, able to be tacked on to nutrition and wellness education that occurs right in the hospital rooms.
Over the years, Bell said, the level of educational programming within area maternity wards has declined due to restricted funding, frugal minded hospitals instead opting for the most basic of medical care for their new moms. Bell sees Ready-Set-Parent! as filling the gap between medical services and needed family support services.
Describing the families they serve as well intentioned but overwhelmed, and often isolated, Bell identifies the value in bringing the support directly to the hospital. Sometimes working two jobs, frequently teenage mothers estranged from their own parents, these folks usually won’t seek out help on their own. Bell says these new moms typically welcome the help.
Partnering with Baker Victory Services’ Health and Nutrition programming, EPIC facilitates visits from community-based grant funded specialists. These specially trained community members are people who can relate to those they are serving. “People are more comfortable taking parenting advice from someone they can relate to,” says Bell. So EPIC sets up sessions right in the hospitals. Bringing a uniquely crafted version of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon”, specialists aim to build relationships with new moms, which translates into a positive parenting education program. The book, encased in a special cover containing step-by-step instructions on how to read to an infant, also includes an application to the Buffalo and Erie County Library. Moms are encouraged to seek advice and ask questions in a private setting, and are provided with information about how to engage their baby in educational play and develop a literacy rich home.
In short, they piece together enough money to give new moms books, and teach them how to use them. Considering that the greatest brain development in our lives occurs before we even begin school-I’d say this program is key to supporting a well-educated Western New York Community.
Obviously, illiteracy isn’t called a societal ill for nothing. You may know that children who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of school prior to graduation, but did you know that historically, those who do not learn to read and write are more likely to commit crimes, and end up in jail than those who develop strong literacy skills? Students who graduate from high school have a higher lifetime income earning potential, making it less likely they will end up seeking welfare and public assistance. Most importantly, the ability to communicate successfully improves quality of life, positively improving a person’s contributions to their community.
We can all support literacy development within our WNY community. Consider becoming a Literacy volunteer, or supporting fundraising for literacy programming!
For registration information, contact EPIC at (716)332-4153.
To find out how EPIC can help YOU, check out their website: http://www.epicforchildren.org
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