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Welcome to Our Early Literacy Outreach program!
Welcome to the first monthly newsletter which is just one component of The Library of Michigan’s launch of their two-year Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) program. The
program is based on the American Library Association’s project of the same name. Teaching parents and other caregivers including early childhood educators how to support the early literacy development of young children is the basis of the program. The Library
of Michigan has ECRR manuals available that libraries can request. Training was offered in March, but it was not necessary to participate in training to receive the manual. Contact Karren Reish at
reishk@michigan.gov if you would like a manual.
Many libraries feel that they are participating in the ECRR program by instituting practices within their storytime programs. However, that is not the basis of ECRR.
In fact, the manual does not address storytime programs per se, rather the initiative’s goal is to reach parents and caregivers, specifically those from low-income and/or low education families, with the importance of engaging in early literacy practices with
their young children. Those five practices are: Talking; Reading; Singing; Writing and Playing. The manual was written to assist librarians in offering workshops to parents and caregivers. There are five main workshops to offer to adults (four with children
present): Parent Workshop; Fun for Parents and Children; Fun with Letters for Parents and Children; Fun with Words for Parents and Children; and Fun with Science and Math for Parents and Children. In addition, there is a workshop to offer to Community Partners;
a workshop to train other staff members; and a final workshop on how to create Early Literacy and Learning Spaces.
Watch for upcoming training webinars on subjects related to ECRR which will be offered on July 14, August 22, and November 10. For more information on this project, contact
Sue at: sue@kidlitplus.com.
For more information and materials, go to
www.michigan.gov/youthlibraryservices in the Every Child Ready to Read section.
--- Sue
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