While further exploring the National Black Child Development Institute web page http://nbcdi.org/ I encountered a link titled Literacy under the Initiatives section. I found that NBCDI has a national early literacy public education initiative. This program is in place to assist parents and caregivers in of African American children through age 6, in their efforts to improve academic performance. NBCDI partners with Reading is Fundamental (RIF) http://www.rif.org/ offering early literacy training to early childhood professionals. RIF and NBCDI together offer RIF’s Care to Read early literacy training program in four cities of NBCDI affiliates. Those cities are Nashville, TN; Charlotte, NC; Philadelphia, PA and Albany, NY. This information about partnership led me to look further in to the RIF website. I found that RIF is the largest and longest running nonprofit literacy organization. RIF is supported by organizations and programs such as U.S. Department of Education, Macy’s, Univision, Radio One, and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, campaigning to improve literacy skills in African-American, Hispanic, and Native American communities. The campaign stresses the importance of developing the language skills of young children to help better prepare them for success in school and life. RIF is motivated to changing the lives of children through their literacy initiative. Nearly two-thirds of low-income families in the U.S. do not own books (Reading is Fundamental INC). RIF delivers free books and other resources to children and families. RIF has a network of 400,000 volunteers. These volunteers are reaching children in places such as schools, homeless shelters, community centers, childcare centers, health clinics, and migrant camps. The RIF has three programs Books for ownership, Care to Read, and Family of Readers.
The books for ownership involve the communities, supplying partial funding to buy books for disadvantaged children. This is usually 25% for programs qualifying for the federal funding (Reading is Fundamental Inc.). Volunteers buy the books and plan distribution process. The children are given the opportunity to choose their own books. This program is vital for children who have no books in their homes, who have limited access to libraries and bookstores.
The care to read program helps childhood professionals support children’s literacy. The workshops in this program are based on early literacy and best researched practices. The workshop programs provide training and information for building partnerships with families and using the best techniques. They also enforce a “Train the Trainer” model that teaches participants to train their colleagues.
The family of readers program is designed for parents. It helps them take leadership in their child's reading and literacy. These works shops are for parents teaching them how to select children’s books and read them out loud. The workshops even teach them to plan community events of promoting literacy. This program targets at risk families in elementary schools.
The NCBDI and RIF together are developing a nation of readers become productive people who help create strong communities. These organizations are bringing awareness to the problems concerning literacy in low income families and taking steps to make positive changes for children and families. I was unaware of the enormity of the challenges of literacy in the United States. According to RIF, experts estimate that nearly 40 percent of U.S. 4th graders do not achieve basic levels of reading proficiency (Reading is Fundamental Inc.). The number is higher among low-income families, minority groups, and English language learners. I felt this information relates to our discussion this week, which examined the challenges faced by low income and immigrant families providing quality early education to their children. The challenge of access to such programs becomes difficult for families of these backgrounds. NCBDI and RIF are helping local communities bridge the gaps of access, awareness, and understanding to families in need of literacy support.
