Project Read
Last Updated on Sunday, 24 July 2011 19:30 Wednesday, 20 July 2011 09:48
On Mother’s Day, I shared with the congregation how becoming a mother has influenced my thinking about the world which we live. My experiences as an elementary teacher and volunteer at Hot Meals have also been influential in what began as a whisper to now a "nudge" from God to create Project Read.
Research indicates that children who come from low-income families suffer from a reading proficiency gap of more than 40% compared to their high-income counterparts, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Children who have their own books at home have a better chance of learning to read and doing better in school. Sadly, 61% of low-income families have no books at all in their homes (J. McQuillan, The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions 1998). This is where an opportunity awaits to be seized at Hot Meals.
Project Read is that opportunity. Once a month, an adult will interactively read aloud an amazing picture book to the children attending Hot Meals. Afterward the children will then select a book to take home and then select a second book to give to a friend not in attendance. My hope is that in empowering the powerless we can change lives and improve our world.