Quotes of the month


Volunteer Julianne Nason at Seattle First AME DH says, "A child high-fived me as I was leaving, and then the whole class had to do that, too."

Patricia Whitlock at Petite Daycare & Preschool says one preschooler yelled, "Hurray! You're here!!" and another "just doesn't think mice should nap in boxers," referring to one of the books they read together.

Charlotte Trout at Grace Children's Center says she had just read to two children when the rest of the kids came in from recess. "When they saw me, the whole class came running over to me and just piled up. I can't find words to say how great that felt. I ended up reading to the whole class, and they all paid attention the entire time!"



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June Issue

Ten ways to engage a pre-reader

Did you know that children learn best in the context of nurturing relationships? As Volunteer Readers, you understand the importance of reading to kids on a regular basis, and you also know that it's not always easy to capture and keep a child's attention. We wanted to know what's working and what's not for each of you, so we asked. We compiled your answers into a Top 10 list of ways to engage those young minds.

READ THE LIST >>

Developmental milestones of early literacy (3-5 years)

You're helping cultivate early literacy skills so that children enter school prepared to succeed. Here are some guidelines for reading milestones for young children. Model these reading behaviors for the kids you read to and be sure to note them for the evaluation form you fill out after each reading session with a child. Following are a few guidelines from Reach Out and Read National Center.

Motor skills:

  • Competent book handling
  • Turn pages one at a time

Cognitive:

  • Listen to longer stories
  • Can retell familiar story
  • Understand what text is
  • Move finger along text
  • Can "write" name (put pen/pencil to paper and approximate letters, showing an understanding that letters and words have meaning)
  • Moves toward letter recognition

The Dialogic Reading method

We've gotten a lot of enthusiastic feedback about the training we offer Volunteer Readers, particularly for the presentation by Maren Ostergard of the King County Library System on the Dialogic Reading Method—a fancy name for engaging kids in a conversation about the book you're reading so that they stay interested and get more out of it. She makes it easy to learn to use by using the acronym PEER* (Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, Repeat). Want to know more?

READ THE ARTICLE >>

Spread the word

We have reached a significant milestone of registering 100 volunteers to read to young kids throughout King County! Thanks to each of you for making such a meaningful commitment. We're always looking for good volunteers, though, so tell your friends about the program and share the opportunity to help create profound and positive change in our community.

Talk to Us

Have information that you'd like to share or a question you'd like to ask? Send your comments and questions to readers@uwkc.org.

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