Here are the basics:
- Kids 0-5 signed up. (In the preschool-kindergarten collaboration kids only participate from sept of last year of preschool to end the kindergarten school year.)
- Books are bagged in groups of 10.
- At certain milestones like 100th book, 500th book, etc. the child receives a prize. Prizes can be things like t-shirts, cds of nursery rhymes, etc.
- At the end of the program, kids get a big prize, certificate, and their picture in a local newspaper.
Example: I contacted the school that does the program. The woman I spoke with said that this is their 3rd year doing the program. They have 240 bags with unique titles (no repeats). This year they have 150 participants. Her school relied on donations for their books.
What I like about the program: It encourages parents to read to their kids and reinforces how important it is. At Oak Lane, I see a lot of elementary age kids, but not many preschoolers or babies.
Questions:
- How practical do you all think this program is?
- Would you bag up books? (I'm thinking that to start I'd have 20 bags and then switch them out every 3-4 months)
- Who would participate? Kids from birth to end of kindergarten? 3-5 year olds?
- Would you divide the bags into levels? Bag for toddlers, bag for 3-4s, bag for pre-readers and beginning readers? Or mix levels?
Overall, I think the program is worth doing. I will see if my Friends group is willing to collaborate and sponsor prizes. I think it will take me a month or two to get everything set up and organized.
The woman I spoke with is sending me an informational packet. Once I get it, I can I make copies and send it on to any that are interested. Let me know!
