St. Elizabeth's Church Provides Support To Literacy Coalition

St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church recently sent two checks for $500 each to the Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition, one to pay for students in the GED program to take their tests, and the other for "wherever it is needed most." The current GED program has earned this support because of its recent unprecedented success in both the traditional program and in the Lumpkin County Detention Center. Thank you St. Elizabeth's!

Rotary Helps Celebrate Literacy Month

Rotary Clubs in Georgia have "signed on" to the worthy objectives of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. The March issue of their newsletter carries several pages of interest to the objectives of our Literacy Coalition. Follow this link, March Rotations.pdf to see this emphasis by Rotarians (pages 3 and 14), who are being asked to support with both funding and volunteer support. Please also note the Dahlonega Sunrise Rotary Club donation was only bested by two other clubs in the state!

Kids Want To Hear More Bedtime Stories

REUTERS – Fri May 22, 1:40 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Almost two-thirds of children want their parents to spend more time reading to them before bed, and most prefer Mum's storytelling to Dad's, researchers said on Friday.

They conducted a study that showed younger children aged 3-4 were most hungry for more stories, with over three-quarters saying they wished their parents read to them more often.

More than half of all children aged 3-8 said story time was their favourite pastime with their parents.

"The results of our research confirm the traditional activity of storytelling continues to be a powerful learning and emotional resource in children's lives," said child psychologist Richard Woolfson, who led the study commissioned by Disney/Pixar World of Cars.

Storytelling ranked higher than television or video games among pastimes for kids, and 82 percent said reading a story with their parents helped them sleep better, according the survey of 500 children aged 3-8 in Britain.

The best storytellers were mothers who used funny voices to illustrate different characters or made their own special sound effects to keep the story moving, researchers said.

When mum and dad are not at hand, celebrities will do: over 30 percent of children said they would like to hear a bedtime story from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, with teen idols Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson trailing close behind.

"It can be very difficult for parents to find the time to read with their children, but these moments can help build strong bonds and play a vital part in their child's development," said Woolfson.

(Reporting by Nick Vinocur; Editing by Steve Addison)

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

RESULTS FROM A RECENT STUDY by the National Institute for Literacy show that the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program can help every child be all he or she can be in the classroom.

Developing Your Child's "Super-Ready" Literacy Skills

The National Institute for Literacy's Early Literacy Panel just released its "Developing Early Literacy" report. The report identified essential early skills and abilities important to later literacy development. It also found that parent involvement had a significant impact on measures of oral language skills and cognitive abilities.

The findings and recommendations inspired Liza McFadden, president of the Volunteer USA Foundation, to compile this "To Do" list of actions to help children become "super-ready" for school.

Finding #1. Alphabet Knowledge.

"Alphabet Knowledge" is the knowledge of the names and sounds associated with printed letters. I think of this finding as if my kids were wearing superhero costumes while becoming "masters of the alphabet." Their job: to learn the name of every letter and the sound each letter makes. My job: to switch on the TV closed-caption option so words are part of my child's every TV experience; to point to the beginning letter of words and make the sounds of the letter.

Finding #2. Phonological Awareness.

This finding says super-ready kids have "phonological awareness"— which means they have the ability to distinguish words and syllables, independent of their meaning. It's critical that children truly hear the sounds in words and play with these sounds. It means reading fun poetry like Dr. Seuss books and singing songs like "Clap, Clap, Clap your Hands" where children clap to syllables.

Finding #3. Rapid/Random Order Learning.

By age 5, super-ready kids must be able to instantly identify letters, numbers, colors and objects in "rapid" and "random order." So it's not just knowing the numbers one to 10 in order—it's important to recognize them quickly in any order.

Finding #4. Writing Skills.

Super-ready kids need to be able to wield powerful pencils. While most of us spend lots of time reading bedtime stories, I'm not sure we've been as conscientious about writing skills. Specifically, at age 5 children should be able to write their own name and write any letters that are called out. One idea is to have your child write their name in all their books.

Finding #5. Phonological Memory.

This finding is a doozey; researchers call it developing a child's "phonological memory." Simply stated, super-ready kids have great recall and we know how they love to "retell" their favorite stories.