The Born to Read program in Sarasota County was established to help parents nurture their baby’s love of reading and learning. The program both provides opportunities for parents to learn about the importance of reading to their babies from birth and introduces families to the public library. Parents are encouraged to read daily to their children, tell them stories, sing songs and play music, play finger-games, and play with puppets. Such activities provide the stimulation essential for healthy, active brain development; can improve children’s school readiness, literacy and language skills; and can establish a foundation for habits that lead to lifelong learning. Through Born to Read, the Sarasota County Library System partners with local health care providers and other community agencies to provide new and expectant parents with library cards, reading materials, incentives, and resources to help them raise children who are “Born to Read.” The free program serves teen and single parents, low-income families, families whose primary language is other than English, and families who do not access public library resources. Families must have a child younger than five to qualify. If you would like to be involved, refer a family, or learn more, please contact Born to Read at 861-2506. For information about early literacy and to view the Born to Read brochure, which includes a list of suggested books and tips for sharing books with young children, visit www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/borntoread/bornread.htm For additional information about brain development in young children and early literacy, visit http://zerotothree.org. From 2001-2007, Born to Read in Sarasota County has been funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services. How to Contribute to Born to Read Please make your check payable to The Literacy Fund for Sarasota County Libraries and designate on the check that you wish to support Born to Read. Donations may be sent to The Literacy Fund for Sarasota County Libraries C/O The Community Foundation of Sarasota County PO Box 49587 Sarasota, FL 34230-6587 Program Contacts Sarabeth Kalajian, Libraries Director, is the Born to Read Project Administrator. She can be contacted at skalajian@scgov.net or by phone at 861-9842. Erin Page is the Project Coordinator and may be contacted at epage@scgov.net or by phone at 861-2506. Alisa Mitchell is the Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator and may be contacted at amitchell@scgov.net or by phone at 861-2506. Born to Read’s Tips for Raising a Reader Reading to Your Children Nurturing Your Child’s Love of Learning through Reading Brain Activities For Babies Reading to Babies Reading to Toddlers Reading to Preschoolers Born to Read’s Community Partners Born to Read Outreach Activities Reading to Your Children Prepares them for school and for reading. Improves their language and listening skills and helps brain development. Teaches them about new experiences. Is fun and can cost nothing! Nurturing Your Child’s Love of Learning through Reading Read to your child every day, beginning when your child is a newborn, even if just for five or ten minutes. Pick special “ritual” times to read each day, such as bedtime or naptime. Allow your child to play with and explore books. Take your child to the library regularly and let her choose books to borrow. Keep a variety of books and magazines in your home. Be a role model: read for yourself and let your child see you reading. Brain Activities For Babies When you play, sing, read to, and interact with your baby, you are helping her brain develop. A child’s brain in the first years is often compared to a sponge because it soaks up information so quickly. During these early years, your child’s ability to learn is tremendous. Research indicates children absorb information faster in the first few years of life than at any other time. Activities such as listening to music with your baby or singing nursery rhymes, playing with puppets and doing finger-plays may seem just “fun” to you and your baby (and they should be!), but these experiences help your baby’s brain form new connections. The “mental pathways” that are built now will be used throughout life, so this early brain activity prepares your child for a life of learning. One key area of brain development that parents can influence directly is language. The more that you talk with and read to your baby and the more you encourage her speech efforts, the better her speaking, reading, and writing skills will become. Also, the greater the variety of words your baby hears now, the larger her vocabulary will become later—and books are a great source of new words. Reading to Babies The truth is it’s never too early to read to your baby. Some parents start before their baby is even born! Although reading to your baby before birth is not necessary, experts do agree that the earlier parents read to their babies, the better. You can begin when your baby is a few days old—long before your baby can understand words or pictures. At this stage, the sound of your voice matters, not the story. Reading to your baby is a special experience that can help you two to bond. These moments actually “turn on” your baby’s brain cells for development, as well as teach her that reading is pleasurable. When your baby is very young, keep reading sessions short but frequent—perhaps five minutes each, several times a day. You can try some of the following tips for reading to infants: Point to and describe the pictures. Vary your voice and facial expressions as you read. Choose books with bright, simple pictures, or different textures. Choose soft books—it’s fine if baby wants to chew them! For variety, sing, or tell a story instead of reading. Reading to Toddlers Reading to your toddler can present new challenges. For instance, your child may find it difficult to sit still or focus. To minimize these challenges, you may find it helpful to create certain times to share books, just as you set a certain time for nap, and to remember that the experience of sharing the book is more important than actually finishing the story. Your toddler may want to help read by turning the pages, holding the book, or even telling the story himself. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to read to your toddler, so it’s okay if your child prefers the book to go backwards! The more your child participates, the greater his attention will last (usually), and the more he will learn. If you model to your child that reading is a fun experience, your child is likely to enjoy books and look forward to your special reading sessions. Be patient if your child wants to hear the same story over and over—the repetition is comforting to your child, and children learn through repetition. As you read, name an object and ask your toddler to point to it, or point to a picture and ask “What is that? What is she doing?” Run your finger under the words as you read; your child learns that we read from left to right, and that those squiggles (text) tell the story! Because toddlers love to participate, some of the best books for this age have “built-in” activities. For instance, look for books that ask questions for your toddler to answer. (You can also share a book with him just by making up questions about the pictures.) Your child may prefer to make up a story to fit the pictures herself, instead of hearing it read aloud. Or she may shout out words or sentence from the story as you read aloud. She may even pretend to read herself. These are all normal behaviors and you should congratulate your toddler for participating and encourage her to continue. Toddlers are now able to follow more “traditional” stories, so picture books with an uncomplicated storyline are a good bet. But toddlers still enjoy books with simple pictures of objects or people. Other books perfect for this age have pop-up pictures, flaps to lift or tags to pull, or textures to touch. Reading to Preschoolers When your child is a newborn, the books you choose do not matter as much as the sound of your voice and the cozy act of reading. As your child grows, however, you will begin to choose books based on your child’s age. By age 2, your child is ready for variety, though he will have favorite books he wants you to read over and over. This is natural, and if you grow tired of the same story, try some of the tips listed below. You can visit the library with your child and together choose books with fresh story lines. Try a variety of book types—picture, board, flap. Now that your child’s attention span is improving, you can vary between books with few words and books that tell longer stories. Your child will enjoy books about children just like him, but you can also choose books to introduce your child to new unknown experiences (such as a trip to the dentist or doctor), or to show your child how a book character copes with a situation that your child is also finding difficult (such as a new baby in the family). Give your child time to look at the pictures before or as you read, and ask “What’s that called?” or “What is he doing?” As you read, ask your child “What happens next?”, “Why did she do that?”, or “What if…?” Run your finger under the text as you read to teach your child the process of reading. When reading a familiar story, see if your child can finish phrases or sentences, or add a new phrase to see if your child will catch it. (Your child feels smart when he knows the story well or can predict the end of a phrase.) Discuss what you both liked or didn’t like about the story. Allow your child to “read” the story to you. Vary your voices and expressions as you read, or ask your child to say the lines of a favorite character. Born to Read Outreach Activities Below are a few examples of Born to Read’s activities and partnerships.  Sarasota County Cooperative Extension’s Family Nutrition Program: Family Nutrition Specialists present Puppet Theater Nutrition programs in the waiting rooms of the Sarasota County Health Department several times per week. The programs provide information about nutrition, food safety, dental health, family resource management, and exercise. At the end of each program, the Specialist presents information about Born to Read and the Sarasota County Library System and distributes free children’s books from Born to Read to the audience.  Hospital Newborn Bags: Born to Read and other local agencies collaboratively produce tote bags for the parents of all newborns delivered at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The tote bags contain new parenting resource materials and supplies. Born to Read provides a puppet to encourage parents to interact closely with their babies, as well as library information and “I’m a Reader” literacy kits from former Governor Bush’s Family Literacy Initiative. Other agencies that contribute to the bags include the Healthy Start Coalition, Success By Six, Nurturing Dads, Kid Care, the Sarasota County Health Department, the Child Protection Center, and the School Readiness Coalition.  Healthy Start and Healthy Families: Care Coordinators and Family Advocates from these two healthcare agencies introduce library services during home visits to clients and deliver early literacy materials from Born to Read, including books, music recordings, and puppets. At subsequent home visits, coordinators reinforce the importance of reading and encourage regular use of the library.  Cyesis School and Character House: Sarasota County Youth Librarians and Born to Read staff regularly visit the Sarasota County School’s Cyesis Teen Parent Program and the Sarasota YMCA’s residential Character House to work with teenage mothers and their babies, to encourage and model early literacy behaviors. Born to Read provides these mothers with children’s books, music recordings, and puppets.  Lullaby Concerts: Born to Read has presented several series of free Lullaby Concerts at six Sarasota County Library locations. The concerts featured Musicians Out-of-the-Box performing an interactive program, designed to introduce young children to live music. Born to Read provided gift bags to concert-goers, in recognition of the role music can play in children’s development and as incentives for parents to explore music with their young children. Concert funding was provided in part by The Sarahart T. Loeb and Jack W. Loeb Endowment Fund for Family Literacy Outreach of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and a Sam’s Club Literacy Grant. Plans for future concerts are underway.  Born to Read’s Community Partners Character House Child Care Connection Children First Child Protection Center Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program Cyesis School Early Childhood Associations Early Childhood Mental Health Partnership  Early Childhood Network Early Learning Coalition  Even Start First Step Mothers and Infants Program Friends of the Library Head Start/Early Head Start Healthy Families (Florida Center for Child and Family Development) Healthy Start Healthy Start Coalition HIPPY (Home Instruction Parent Program) Hispanic Latino Coalition Kid Care Kiwanis Clubs of Venice, Inc.  Musicians Out-of-the-Box North Port Teen Parenting Program Nurturing Dads Initiative Our Mother's House Reach Out And Read Sarasota Children’s Clinic Sarasota County Health Department Sarasota County Literacy Alliance Sarasota County Literacy Volunteers Sarasota County Tax Collector Sarasota County Transit Authority Sarasota Memorial Hospital School Readiness Coalition Success By Six (United Way of Sarasota County) Women, Infants & Children (WIC) YMCA Children & Families