A Thousand Books Pave the Way for Kindergarten

Have you ever heard the proverb that says, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step”? The same wisdom applies to the challenge of reading 1000 books to a child before kindergarten. The journey begins with one willing caregiver and one well-loved book.

If you are an early childhood educator, parents may have asked you, “What is one of the best ways I can prepare my child for school?” Of course, you know that the answer is beautifully simple: it is to read to their children. Encourage parents to multiply that first book they read to their child by 1000; then they will find that their children are more than ready to begin their school journey. Urge them to start reading as soon as possible to their infants, toddlers, or preschoolers.

Notify parents that some libraries sponsor special programs that help them keep track of all those books they read to their little ones. For more information, direct parents to 1000 Books Before Kindergarten: Find a Program to locate a nearby participating library, or suggest that they call their community library for information. Even if libraries in your school community do not participate, you can find out more about the initiative by consulting the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program. This informative site offers program instructions in English and Spanish. There are log sheets for each increment of 100 books on the site. In addition, you can learn more about phone apps to track reading and find recommended texts to get a jump start on reading those 1000 books.

As an early childhood, primary, or intermediate-grade teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, school librarian, or principal, you want to publicize the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Initiative so that your current or future students and their siblings reap the benefits. Encourage parents and caregivers to read to their children whenever they can. Although that total of 1000 books may seem daunting at first, convince parents that it is achievable. Tell them that if they read just one book a day to their children, those youngsters will have heard 365 stories in a year. Reassure them that in three years, they will have already exceeded the 1000 mark. An extra bonus is that the books children repeatedly request count each time they are read. Books that children hear at preschool or day care can also be counted toward the total. Of course, audiobooks count, too.

At a preschool open house, school literacy night, or parent meeting, you can engage families with the charming picture book 1000 Books Before Kindergarten: My Journey to 1,000 Books Borghese, Luh, and Bean, 2014). It is about families who undertake the challenge. Another resource to display is the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten: My Journey to 1000 Books activity journal (1000 Books Foundation and Bean, 2015). During the meeting, remind parents that the advantages of sharing a book with a child are many. You can provide information about how listening to a story increases children’s exposure to new words and builds vocabulary. Reinforce that sharing a story teaches young children that books have authors and illustrators responsible for the front and back covers and all the interesting pages in between. Call attention to the fact that many readers love nonfiction, which teaches them about the world around them.

When speaking with parents, you can call attention to how read-alouds expose children to the concepts of characters, setting, plot, problem, and solution. These are the same story elements that they will need to know and analyze throughout their school careers. Explain that children will want to retell their favorite stories, featuring important events from the beginning, middle, and end. These interactions around books will support students as they grow as readers.

Clarify how children will come to understand that print carries meaning as they listen to stories. Encourage parents to share poetry as well as fiction and nonfiction so that children can enjoy the fun of rhyming words. Point out that children will become increasingly familiar with language, including initial and ending sounds and syllables as they listen to stories. As they get older, children will be able to pick out capital and lowercase letters as well as read common sight words and connected text.

Stress that the enjoyable read-alouds parents share with their little ones will help their readers understand the concepts of print. For example, describe how read-alouds give children the chance to observe how adults handle books and where they start reading. Watching a parent read allows children to take note that the reader starts at the top of the page and reads from left to right. Children will see how a reader moves from the left page to the right one and does a return sweep from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. After getting more experience with books, children will get a good idea of how writers use words to express their ideas.

Extend a warm invitation to parents to join in the fun of reading to their little ones. Tell them about the wondrous gift they can give their young reader by reading and tracking all the beautiful books shared during the first five years of their child’s life. Assure families that they will see their children develop language along with definite literary tastes in books and authors. Focus on the strong bond created by sharing a read-aloud. Inspire parents to achieve that goal of reading 1000 books before kindergarten. You can help parents and caregivers open the door to literacy and teach children about their world—all through the enchantment of a book.

References

Borghese, M., Luh, C. H., & Bean, I. (2014). 1000 books before kindergarten: A promise and a pledge.

1000 Books Foundation. (2017). 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. Retrieved from http://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/

1000 Books Foundation & Bean, I. (2015). 1000 books before kindergarten: My journey to 1000 books: activity journal.

Note: You can customize this letter to meet the needs of your audience. Paragraph 2 of this letter is optional depending on whether your community library offers a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program. If your local library does participate, blanks are provided to insert the name of the library, street address or email address, and phone number.

Dear School Parents, Community Members, and Staff:

I’d like to inform you about a wonderful free reading initiative called 1000 Books before Kindergarten. This initiative encourages parents and caregivers to read to their pre-kindergarten children daily so that they can experience 1000 books before the first day of school. You can learn more about it at 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program.

Our local community library takes part in this program as well. You can visit the ________ library at ____________or call the staff at ___________for more information. Some participating libraries often offer reading logs as well as incentives to encourage families to continue reading.

A thousand books is an impressive number, but you will be amazed how quickly they add up when you read daily to your child. If your child has a favorite book that you read nightly, it counts each time. Or, if your child likes to listen to stories on tape or on a computer program, each one counts toward the 1000 books. Stories that your child hears at preschool or daycare can be added to your list as well.

As you can imagine, reading aloud to children has so many benefits. It increases children’s vocabularies and exposes them to amazing authors and illustrators. When your children listen to read-alouds, they discover that stories have characters, settings, plots, problems, and solutions. They learn about different topics through listening to nonfiction and have fun with language through poetry.

By reading to your children, you will help them to comprehend that print has meaning. From watching you, your little reader will learn how to handle a book and how to follow the words and sentences on a page. Your child might notice how letters form words, and how words are arranged in sentences. As your reader gets older, he or she will learn to identify the sounds of words. In time, the child you care for might be able to pick out capital and lowercase letters and even some sight words.

Although your child is very young, you can see how it is never too early to begin reading and learning. Even if you do not participate in a formal program at the library, you can still read daily to your child. You can keep track of all the books that you read in a notebook, spreadsheet, or calendar. This record will be a great remembrance for your child because it chronicles the first 1000 books you shared together.                                                                                                                                             

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Reference:

1000 Books Foundation. (2017). 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. Retrieved from http://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/