NYC Imagination Library Parent Training at Groundwork

Please encourage your parents to attend the NYC Imagination Library parent trainings being held at Groundwork (692 Blake) on Saturdays at 10:00 am. The parent training series is designed to empower parents with simple-to-use and effective strategies to support their children’s early literacy development and has been planned as a four-session (2-hour/session) interactive workshop series delivered in 2 cycles. The workshop topics are as follows: Session 1 (Week 1): Families Reading Aloud – Why and How Session 2 (Week 2): Brain Development with Family Support Session 3 (Week 3): Stages of Child Development & Choosing Developmentally Appropriate Books Session 4 (Week 4): Extending the Life of Books, and Family Stories The topics for each cycle are the same, but the curriculum and activities will be developmentally appropriate for parents of children from age 0-2 in Cycle 1 and parents of children age 3-5 in Cycle 2. The actual Saturday training dates and times are as follows: Cycle 1 Sat., April 30, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., May 7, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., May 14, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., May 21, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Cycle 2 Sat., June 4, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., June 11, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., June 18, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Sat., June 25, 2011, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm We are encouraging parents to pre-registration for the training, and the number of participants for each workshop will be limited to 25. The NYC Imagination Library is a birth-to-five early literacy program, founded by singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. the program assists preschool children in developing vocabulary, school readiness and love of learning and reading by ensuring FREE, high quality, age appropriate books. The books are mailed once a month directly to their homes, an effort to encourage parents to regularly read aloud to their preschool children. With the arrival of the first book, the classic "The Little Red Engine That Could," every child experiences the joy of finding their very own book in their mailbox. These moments continue each month until the child turns 5 – and in their very last month in the program they receive "Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.” By the time each child reaches age 5, he or she will have read at least 60 books.” The research is clear on the benefits of reading aloud to children at an early age, and the NYC Imagination Library can complement and support all school-based improvement efforts by proactively engaging preschool children and their families to address a root cause of low student achievement and prevent the achievement gap. The research is also clear that a parent who does not read aloud to their child early and often is putting the child at a severe long term disadvantage compared to other children – a literacy disadvantage that most children do not recover from and that schools are not effective at overcoming. http://nycimaginationlibrary.org