Raising a Reader

Special Section: Combined Federal Campaign 2009

A Clear Mission – All Children Prepared for Success By 6

More than 6,700 children and their families each year across the region benefit from Raising A Reader (RAR), a program of United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Success By 6. Many of the RAR participants are military families. RAR is offered to parents and their infants and preschool age children through childcare and pre-kindergarten settings and infant and toddler programs.

United Way knows that important activities parents do with their young children offer the greatest potential for school readiness and lifelong success. Reading, sharing and discussing books every day with children beginning at birth has been proven to be the most valuable way to increase language and literacy skills – the skills all children need in order to succeed in school.

United Way, through RAR, is committed to efforts that prepare children to succeed academically once they enter school. RAR educates parents and child care providers on the importance of sharing books with their children and provides books to homes on weekly. Book sharing, beginning at birth, is an important activity that has been proven to increase children’s language and comprehension skills.

Who knew talking and sharing books could make such a difference? In 2004, UWSHR identified RAR as a best-practice that was showing measurable improvements in preschool children. This research-based, nationally-recognized program is designed to increase school readiness scores in preschool-aged children in the areas of print knowledge and reading comprehension. Most importantly, RAR has also been shown to bring kids and parents together, as parents, even those that struggle with their own reading skills, share and discuss books with their preschool-aged children. About 6,700 participating children currently receive bright red book bags with four multi-cultural books each week. More than 26,000 books are being shared each week due to RAR.

UWSHR SB6 piloted RAR and got real results. Because of early success and great results, UWSHR expanded RAR to where it is now offered to children in all South Hampton Roads’ cities. RAR is delivered through partnerships with Head Start, Healthy Families Programs, Infant Intervention Programs, child care centers and home, and public school preschool children in all local cities, With 6,700 children participating in RAR each year, thousands of families and childcare providers have been taught the importance of book sharing and are now engaging with their children around books. United Way continues to work expanding RAR to reach more children and their families so that all children enter school with the early literacy skills needed for academic success.

All of us, regardless of whether or not we participate in Raising A Reader, can make an important difference in the school readiness skills and life of a child. Grab a book, make up a story, talk about the pictures, ask questions – and have fun. Make a video of you reading your child’s favorite books that your child can enjoy while you are deployed. These simple activities are the keys to success.

To support Raising A Reader through the United Way Of South Hampton Roads, designate CFC #28927.