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“Summer slide” is the tendency for students, especially those from low-income families, to lose some of the academic gains they made during the previous school year. A Johns Hopkins study of Baltimore Public Schools found that low-income children “lose more than two months in reading achievement” over summer vacation, while their middle-class counterparts make small gains. According to the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA)   "Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer."  Reading over the summer has been proven to slow or stop summer slide. The biggest hindrance is access to books during the summer. The Aransas County Public library offers a wonderful summer reading program but not all children are able to participate. Some children might not have access to books during the summer because of lack of transportation to the library, no books in the home, or reading is not actively encouraged.

 

Vision

 

We envision Read to Shine to be a collaborative of community stakeholders who work to improve language and literacy outcomes for all of Aransas County’s children. Providing children, from infants to high school, with access to books opens the door to reading and learning success. 

 

Books for new parents

Children begin developing language abilities from birth and these can later be directly related to reading abilities. Parents, who read, sing and tell stories help their preschool children develop richer vocabularies. Children with larger vocabularies become better readers and perform better in school. Reading is one of the most important things a parent can do with their child. It accelerates language acquisition and development. Starting early reading to your child is critical. According to research, the more words children hear and have opportunities to use them, strengthen their brains, building connections to reading.

 

Books for little learners

Children starting Kindergarten, who do not bring with them the skills they need to succeed, have a limited chance of reaching the critical third grade milestone of reading proficiently on grade level.   According to the National Research Council for the National Academies, “Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade.  A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader by that time is unlikely to graduate from school.” From the time they start school, children need to be on track.

 

Books for all students

Literacy is infused throughout every thread of the important skills needed by 21st Century students. These are creativity, communication, critical thinking and collaboration. Reading, being able to communicate what was read, and demonstrating comprehension, is a key skill needed during a student’s school day. Understanding math word problems or reading the directions of a simple science experiment and predicting outcomes demonstrates important literacy skills.

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