Born To Read Programs
Born to Read reaches Maine's children and the adults who care for them through:
- Trainings and workshops for child care providers,
volunteer readers, home visitors and parents. Reading aloud, reading-related
conversations and language activities play a vital role in children's
literacy and emotional development. Born to Read's training
sessions provide information on best practices in fostering early
literacy, and related early childhood development research and
offer tips and techniques for making each reading experience with
children stimulating and memorable.
- Curriculum Collections. Children's literature
book bag collections, in conjunction with trainings and resource
guides, explore issues and topics that shape a child's view of
the world. Recent Book Bag Collections include Many Eyes, Many
Voices: Talking About Difference through Children's Literature
and Peaceable Stories.
- Regular read-aloud visits. Through partnerships
with agencies, including the Maine Office of Child Care and Head
Start and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Born
to Read makes sure that children in child care, preschool
and the home receive regular read-aloud experiences. Participating
child care providers receive weekly read-aloud visits from volunteer
readers and a set of books for their child care library. Born
to Read maintains a statewide network of volunteer readers
through its partnership with the Retired Senior and Volunteer
Program (RSVP).
- Children's Literature Reading and Discussion Programs.
Through facilitator-led discussions, child care providers, volunteer
readers, and parents come together to experience the power and
pleasure of ideas in children's literature. Participants discuss
two titles per session, which they are given for their professional
use.
" Born to Read is about connections. The children connect with each other, listening and talking cooperatively. They connect with an older person with white hair and wrinkly skin; they bridge a generational gap. They connect with community resources: we will resume our trips to the village library with a field trip this spring. They begin to connect with the natural environment around them: they relate their experiences with snow, pets, plants, the beach. They connect with themselves, and begin to place themselves in a community larger than themselves." — Born to Read Volunteer
Facts and Figures
Born to Read serves all 16 Maine counties. Over 100
volunteers provide read-aloud programs to child care providers and
model reading aloud through home visits.
Since its inception in 1997, Born to Read has:
- reached over 18,000 families and 25,000 children
- served over 1,500 child care sites
- given away over 40,000 books
- offered 180 training sessions and energized over 2,300 training
participants to become enthusiastic early literacy advocates.
Born to Read
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue, Portland, ME 04102
Phone: (207) 773-5051
Fax: (207) 773-2416
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