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1000 Books Before Kindergarten
The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless.
Read a book (any book) to your newborn, infant, and/or toddler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes you can repeat books) before your precious little one starts kindergarten. Does it sound hard? Not really if you think about it. If you read just 1 book a night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years! If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think (so get started). The key is perseverance. Make it exciting.How to Participate
📘 Read with your child. Studies have shown that reading with your child provides a great opportunity for bonding. Reading together is fun and will create life-long memories for the both of you.
📘 Keep track of the titles of the books that you or anyone (i.e. sibling or teacher) has read with your child. Beanstack (App iOS/Android) is a convenient method to utilize in order to stay organized. If you participated in the Summer Reading Program, you already have a login, so just log in and register for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge.
Frequently Asked Questions
📗 Who can participate in this program? Any child from birth until he or she enters kindergarten can participate in the 1,000 books Before kindergarten program.📗 How long will the program take? The program will take anywhere from a few months to a few years. The program is self-paced and will depend on how often you read together.
📗 How many of my children can participate? All of them (provided they have not yet started kindergarten). Make it even more fun and read as a family!
Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers
Through reading aloud, providing print materials, and promoting positive attitudes about reading and writing, you can have a powerful impact on your child’s literacy and learning.📘Read with your child every day.
📘 When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read. This will help your child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she is hearing is the word he or she sees.
📘 Read your child’s favorite book over and over again.
📘 Read stories with rhyming and lines that repeat. Invite your child to join in on these parts, pointing at each word while they repeat the line.
📘 Discuss new words. For example, “This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in the palace?”
📘 Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.
📘 Read from a variety of children’s books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and non-fiction, information books.