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Early Literacy Initiative

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Early Literacy Initiative of Coastal Fairfield County

 
Research shows that activities in the early years of a child’s life significantly impact language and number skills, relationships with peers and adults, social-emotional development, and overall school readiness.  If children cannot read, they cannot learn, and if they cannot learn, their chances of academic and career success are greatly diminished.
 
The Early Literacy Initiative addresses these issues by bringing together community leaders working in the field of early literacy to coordinate the efforts of various programs in the region and to identify best practices that may be tailored to address the needs of our communities. 
 

The goals of the Early Literacy Initiative are the following:

  1. Increase community understanding of the importance of early literacy;
  2. Increase the involvement of parents and volunteers in early literacy; and
  3. Increase access to age-appropriate books for children, especially those from lower socio-economic families.

 

Five Results/Highlights

  • Approximately 30 professionals in the field of early literacy attended and participated in two roundtable discussions to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Early Literacy initiative.
  • Incorporated Born Learning materials into various United Way community partner initiatives, such as Kith and Kin.  Born Learning is an innovative public engagement campaign that helps parents, caregivers and communities create quality early learning opportunities for young children.
  • Through the efforts of the local First Book Advisory Board and United Way funding, more than 8,000 children’s books were distributed to agencies for re-distribution to the children whom they serve.  First Book is a national program that provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting early literacy access to books.
  • The 2008 Day of Caring Book Drive collected more than 15,000 books that were provided to 5 schools to give to young children to build their home libraries.