Improving Early Childhood Literacy One Book at a Time

By David George

Books Beginning at Birth provides resources to families living in low socioeconomic areas in order to support the development of early literacy skills and foster a love of reading in young children.

Just as you have to learn to crawl before you can walk, young children must also develop certain skills before they can learn to read. The term “emergent literacy” refers to laying the foundation required to grow children’s vocabulary and understanding of letter-sound connections in preparation for them to read on their own.

Idali Reyes is an early childhood coordinator with BookSpring who corresponds with interested partners, such as preschools, nonprofits, and state agencies, to distribute books to families in the program.

“There is research behind this idea of reading to your child daily at as early an age as possible,” Reyes says. “We recommend 10–20 minutes each day so that they are able to increase their letter vocabulary recognition, as well as make connections between the stories and what they experience in real life.”

As a young child’s brain develops, it begins to process language. When we read to young children, we help build and reenforce their understanding of what they are hearing and seeing.

“Providing young children with opportunities to develop early literacy skills is important to their success in school and in life,” Reyes says. “I think the hope for reading with younger children is to keep those habits with them throughout their careers in school.”

The Books Beginning At Birth Program

Books Beginning at Birth is a statewide program that has delivered over 53,000 books to children across Texas. Families can apply to receive books in the mail by visiting www.b3tx.org. The website contains all sorts of literacy resources designed to help families develop strong reading habits, including a free digital library filled with hundreds of high-quality, age-appropriate books and at-home literacy activities.

“The Books Beginning at Birth pro gram is designed to increase early liter acy through encouraging families to read to gether every day,” Reyes says. “We provide books in English and Spanish, and if we are able to, we also can provide books in other languages.”

The program aims to empower children in underserved communities by mailing individually curated and culturally diverse books directly to their homes in a variety of language options. The digital library platform has even more books available in Arabic, Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and more.

The Books Beginning at Birth program also facilitates family book clubs designed to provide parents with tips on reading with their children and helping them select books based on their child’s interests. And for each class they attend, families receive a free book to take home.

“When families attend these book clubs, each little session is a topic,” Reyes says. “For example, one class is about repetition, another about storytelling, and another about emotion.”

BookSpring has also created two programs for emergent school-age readers known as Books for Me and Early Books for Me. In these programs, Reyes and other coordinators work with school librarians to put together themed activities for their students, such as read-alongs.

“We may do a camping theme or travel the world—whatever the librarian chooses,” Reyes says. “We read books based on that theme, and then, we let them pick out a free book. It goes on for a whole day because we’re doing each class in the library.”

Families can sign up for any of the BookSpring programs at bookspring.org. If one of your students’ families would like to participate, you can fill out the sign-up form for the child. Just check the box indicating you have parental permission to submit the form.

“The only requirement for families with the Books Beginning at Birth program is that they watch a short video—about three minutes long—that gives an overview of the program, navigating the website, and tips that they can start using to increase reading readiness with their children,” Reyes says.

How You Can Help

BookSpring is always looking for volunteer support for its reading programs, and a sign-up calendar on the BookSpring website shows monthly events and opportunities to get involved. Just click on the Support tab on the homepage and choose Volunteer. From there, you start the registration process by submitting an application.

“Some of the volunteer activities that we have for people are local events,” Reyes says. “So we sometimes ask for additional volunteer support for book distribution or with the readalouds that we do in schools.”

Other opportunities include picking up and delivering boxes of books, sorting and labeling books, creating written or video book reviews for the website and social media, and recording video read-alouds for young children.

“Books Beginning at Birth requires a massive community effort to reach families all over Texas,” Reyes says. “Not every person is reachable through online means or even a phone call, so we need help spreading the word. You can serve as a reading advocate and encourage families or even help them sign up for our programs.”

On www.b3tx.org, click the Advocates tab for downloadable flyers and other information for teachers interested in sharing and distributing information on this program to families in their districts. You can support the program financially online.

“We need to help everyone get books,” Reyes says. “Especially now that books, as we’ve seen, are only getting more and more expensive. The program is a resource available for families to get free books, and we want to make sure that everyone is able to hear about it.”

BookSpring invites community groups, prekindergarten programs, childcare centers, and health clinics to partner with their programs to give young children access to books and begin developing strong reading habits.

The Books Beginning at Birth program has already reached over 37,000 underserved children statewide, and with the continued support of volunteers, reading advocates, parents, and educators, the program can help many more families to develop strong reading habits at home.

2023

Choose Your Own Adventure

KALAHARI RESORTS AND CONVENTIONS

JULY 10–12 | ROUND ROCK

Embark on new ATPE adventures during the 2023 ATPE Summit at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Round Rock. This is a summertime safari like no other.

DETAILS TO COME AT ATPESUMMIT.ORG

Highlights Of The 2023 Atpe Summit

MAP OUT THE FUTURE OF ATPE: Use your educator voice during the ATPE House of Delegates, when delegates will approve ATPE’s legislative program and elect the 2023-24 state officers.

TAKE PRIDE IN OUR SUCCESSES: Be inspired by the educational and leadership accomplishments of outstanding ATPE members.

CHART NEW PATHS: Expand your mind with curated professional learning sessions providing an opportunity to earn up to seven hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credit.

EXPLORE ATPE’S MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: Learn the latest about ATPE’s membership offerings and strategies you can use in your school district to strengthen the association’s voice.

SAY “HAKUNA MATATA”: We all know it means “no worries,” and Kalahari is an excellent place to take it easy. The resort features America’s largest indoor waterpark, themed escape rooms, and 80,000 square feet of attractions and activities at Tom Foolery’s Adventure Park!

OPENING KEYNOTE: “180 DAYS OF AWESOME” WITH MONICA GENTA

Monica Genta’s goal is to transform teachers, leaders, and schools from seeing education as an ordinary job into an extraordinary adventure. Genta feels every person who walks into a school deserves to love their experience! She is a believer in finding awesome and celebrating life every day. Genta is a classroom teacher of 14 years and the author of five books, including Game Changers, 180 Days of Awesome, and The Rooted Classroom

Agenda At A Glance

Subject to Change

MONDAY, JULY 10

10 a.m.

Registration opens

2–3 p.m.

Volunteer training sessions

3:15–4:45 p.m.

Membership & marketing general session/ Leader of the Year Awards

5–6 p.m.

Opening keynote speaker: Monica Genta

8–9:30 p.m.

Welcome reception

TUESDAY, JULY 11

8–9:30 a.m.

Legislative update/Advocacy Awards

9:45–11:15 a.m.

House of Delegates (candidate speeches)

11 a.m.–2 p.m.

State officer elections

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Region caucuses

2:30 p.m.–completion

House of Delegates

Evening

Evening on your own to explore Kalahari

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12

8–10:15 a.m.

Professional learning breakouts

10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.

Closing keynote/Educator of the Year Awards

ATPE invites you to join us as we visit “neighborhoods” all over Texas. Get an inside look at what ATPE volunteers across the state are doing to recruit, retain, and rejoice with their fellow ATPE members!