Read Aloud America

Kim’s Usborne Book Shelf is working with the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign in developing a Parent and Community Awareness grassroots effort in Tacoma, WA.  Read Aloud 15 MINUTES’ goal is to have every child being read aloud to by a parent or loved one for 15 minutes every day starting at birth.  The decade-long 15 MINUTES Movement will be a massive public awareness effort, spearheaded by partners in cities throughout the nation that will rally grassroots support through local awareness efforts and community outreach.

As an organization that reaches parents with young children, we are asking you to join us in our local campaign efforts.  We are asking every day care center, pediatrician’s office, preschool, literacy group, library, family service organization, and business to unite with us behind the idea that 15 minutes of daily reading aloud from birth to age 8 can change the face of education.

Please contact Kim White, Independent Consultant for Usborne Books & More or, if you wish to become a Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign Partner, please go directly to http://www2.readaloud.org/l/23722/2013-06-14/3wz3.

According to Read Aloud:

• Reading aloud is the single most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to help a child prepare for reading and learning.
• Nationally, 37% of children arrive in kindergarten without the skills necessary to begin their learning journey.
• If a child is not reading at grade level by the end of the first grade, then there is an 88% probability the child will not be reading at grade level by the end of the fourth grade.
• Even in higher-income households, nearly 40% of families do not read aloud every day.
• More than half the children in this country - 13 million children - will not hear a bedtime story tonight.
•  If nothing changes, over the coming decade 15 million children will begin kindergarten ill prepared for their learning journey setting off a cascade of failure.

About Read Aloud

Read Aloud 15 MINUTES is a non-profit organization that is working to make reading aloud every day for at least 15 minutes the new standard in child care. When every child is read aloud to for 15 minutes every day from birth, more children will be ready to learn when they enter kindergarten, more children will have the literacy skills needed to succeed in school, and more children will be prepared for a productive and meaningful life after school. For more information, visit: http://www.readaloud.org/.

About Kim’s Usborne Book Shelf

Kim is an Independent Consultant for Usborne Books & More, a leader in children’s books.

For more information, visit: www.kimsusbornebookshelf.com