By Sonya Bernard-Hollins Publisher, Community Voices
Teachers are not only in the schools; they are at home and in our community. By creating a lifestyle around literacy, children are learning from everyone around them, every day. In this part two special edition insert, Community Voices will focus on the importance of early language development and after-school literacy efforts led by people in our community. We also
highlight a teacher who shares her story of pre-school learning in the home while growing up in a bilingual home in Panama. Kalamazoo Public Sch Kalamazoo Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice notes, “Literacy is early language development, reading, and writing. It begins with reading, singing, and speaking to babies, and continues through the development of children’s reading and writing skills in
schools, pre-K through the end of one’s formal education, and beyond. Reading is in part what you bring to reading. You bring your history, your interests, your background. The more you bring, the more you will understand what you read. As parents, educators, and community members, we can all contribute to our children’s development in early language, reading, and writing.”
Children whose parents attend the Boys and Girls Club Parent Education classes through Lift Up Through Literacy enjoy active learning at Washington Square Library. Local photos, layout
and design by Fortitude Graphics