| In April, Project Read will initiate expanded family literacy services
for adult learners with pre-school age children in the home. The
goal of Project Read’s Families for Literacy program is to introduce the
learner/parent and his/her family to the value and joy of reading.
Through our parent workshops and supplemental FREE instructional materials,
we hope to equip the learner with the necessary skills to provide a home
environment supportive of the literacy development of the pre-school child.
The underlying concept of this project is that the parent is the child’s
first and foremost teacher. Children whose parents have low
literacy skills are twice as likely to have reading and writing problems
of their own. Through the Families for Literacy program, we will
give our learner/parents the tools and information they need to prepare
their children to be successful in school. |
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Eligible families must have children 5 years old or younger in the home
and the parent or caregiver must be currently enrolled in Project Read,
the adult literacy program of the San Francisco Public Library.
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Each pre-school age child of eligible families will receive a FREE children’s
book every other month (six books per year).
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Learner/parents and their tutors will also receive FREE instructional
materials, containing information on parenting topics, which can be used
in their tutoring sessions.
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Eligible learners will be invited to attend monthly workshops on topics
of interest to parents such as, choosing books for your child, preparing
to enter your child in school, working with your child’s teacher, and more!
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Tutors working with FFL parents will be invited to attend continuing education
workshops to enhance family literacy instruction in the tutoring sessions.
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Participating parents and their families will be encouraged to become library
users. They will obtain library cards for their children and be encouraged
to attend Family Storytimes at their nearest branch library.
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The Families for Literacy program is supported
through a grant by The Starbucks Foundation.
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Doing our share to bridge the digital divide, we held our first computer
giveaway on March 30, 2000. More than twenty Project Read learners entered
the drawing to win a used computer donated to Project Read by an individual,
business or organization. Two intrepid volunteer computer technicians,
Rod Caraballo and David Lanham, helped us get five computers ready.
And the computers went to: Pearl Brown, Harvey Hall,
Cornell James, Ernestine Jeffries, and Dexter Wiley.
We anticipate more donations and encourage business
and individuals who would like to donate computers to contact Warren Kennell
at (415) 557-4388.
Project Read thanks the following people and organizations
for their donations of computer equipment: Susan Becker, Casey Chatillon,
Patricia Coyle, Mary Culp, the Friends & Foundation of the Library,
Alan Garelick, Kathryn Gordon, Maureen Jensen, Neil Mills, Randy McNamara,
Men Overcoming Violence (MOVE), Margie O’Driscoll, William A. Patton, Carol
Steiman, Fran A. Streets, Cay Strode, Neils Swinkels, the firm of Walkup,
Melodia, Kelly & Echeverria, and Danusia Zaroda.
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Tutor Karen Fisher reviewed these books and recommends them to Project Read learners.
A very nice and magical book is Instead of Three Wishes, by Megan
Whalen Turner. This is a book of short stories that all have a fun,
surprising or humorous twist to them. And everything is slightly left of
reality. There is a ghost in a factory who is fond of reading, a
young New York boy who wakes up in ancient Sweden, snakes that show you
your true self, a neighbor who needs someone to jump into a painting as
a favor, and a baker who is asked to be a king for a while because the
real king hasn’t come back from his studies yet—and it’s been nine years.
The Tuesday Cafe, by Don Trembath, is a step back into the frustrating
years of high school. Harper is a teenage boy who feels left out and misunderstood
by his parents and by his school. He’s angry. He’s lonely.
He’s got a lousy attitude. So he sets fire to a garbage can at school.
Which happens to be against the law. So Harper is told by a judge
to do community service and write an essay on how he’s going to turn his
life around. Harper doesn’t actually have any plans to do that. But
a small mistake by his mother gets things started for him: she signs him
up for a writing class, a writing class for adults with special literacy
problems. Harper learns a lot more than he expected to learn. |
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Doris Osenda for office work.
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Arrell Bates, Garen McCall, Victoria Sanchez & Anne Williams for speaking
at the October tutor training orientation.
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The Magic Theatre and ACT for ticket donations.
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Pearl Brown, Mindy Carpenter, Letitia Dimeola, Susan Fink, Karen Fisher,
Elizabeth Hughes, Jenifer Jackson, Jeanne Lempert, Kirsten Olson, Becky
Perrine & Katherine Tate for helping at Holiday Party Potluck.
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Katy Colpetzer for computer lab assistance.
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Ernest Cayes for computer lab maintenance.
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Ron Norlin and American Business Communications of South San Francisco
for donating the mailing of Update!
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With the beautiful spring and summer weather just around the corner,
Leon Veal, Project Read’s Outreach Coordinator, will be looking for
events and festivals where he can set up an information table. All Project
Read learners, tutors and volunteers: if you know or hear of events you
think Project Read should take part in, please contact Leon at (415) 557-4388. |
