The Rockin’ Reader program is the primary initiative of the TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council. For 23 years the Council has provided volunteers, books, materials, training, and program management to the Rockin’ Reader Program, a weekly program during which a volunteer reads with the same student (1:1) for 30 minutes a week throughout the school year. And we rely on community support to do so. If you want to put books in students’ hands and connect children with trained community members, please consider supporting the TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council in its continued goal to advance and improve pre-literacy skills and instill the love of reading!
According to the landmark report Becoming a Nation of Readers, “Reading aloud to a child is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.“
Developing early literacy skills helps children learn to read. However, more than 1 in 3 American children enter Kindergarten without the skills they need to learn to read, an essential skill for success in school and later in life (American Academy of Pediatrics). Nearly half of all students in Sarasota District Schools come from low-income homes. Children from low-income homes likely enter school with a word gap—having heard a million or more fewer words than their peers from other socio-economic groups. If not remediated, that gap can lead to failure in reading by 3rd grade and dropping out of school. Children who hear words from books will be better prepared to read (Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy). The Rockin’ Reader program:
You can support this initiative by donating funds toward the following elements of program recruitment, training, materials, and oversight such as the following:
You can volunteer to be a Rockin’ Reader, too! Contact the TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council (teamupvpcouncil@gmail.com) for program information and opportunities.
