Newsletter Number 8 April 2015
Dolly Parton Imagination Library In Grimsby and in Cleethorpes
The second Launch of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library 1st April 2015 After the success of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library at Little Stars Day Nursery at Grimsby Institute in 2014, the Cleethorpes Rotary Club has now introduced the scheme to St Peter’s Children Centre in Cleethorpes. Up to 100 children will receive free books every month. The books cost £25 per annum per child to supply, so the cost over five years for a child who joins from birth is £125. The Imagination Library project provides children with free books from birth up to the age of five. It was originally launched in Dolly’s home town of Sevier County, Tennessee, and brought to the UK in 2007. In the UK, there are currently 30,000 children signed up to the scheme, with a total of 730,000 children registered in Britain, Canada and the US. The project aims to foster a love of reading in children from an early age. Each book is personalised and tailored to the age of the child, which gives a sense of excitement each month, encouraging the child to learn. Families are brought together and the child learns that reading is a pleasure.
The Importance of Sharing Books with children in the Early Years Helping children develop their communication, language and literacy skills begins way before children enter pre-school - it actually begins at birth. The foundations of literacy and learning are laid during infancy and toddlerhood, when the brain undergoes its most dramatic development. During these first 3 years, children acquire the ability to think, speak, learn, and reason. Young children's ability to use language and understand the meaning of spoken and written words is related to later achievement in reading, writing, and spelling. When early language and literacy skills are not appropriately developed in young children, an achievement gap or "language gap" emerges. Parents play a critical role in the development of communication and early literacy skills. Children's experiences with parents/carers and other family members in the early years is key to how language unfolds in early childhood and how children develop a foundation for their enjoyment of communication and of literacy. Access to books and one-on-one reading time in the preschool years is an important predictor of future literacy skills, and research has confirmed that reading to children every day during their preschool years not only will provide a lifetime of benefits, but is the single most important thing parents can do to prepare children for success in school. Hope you can support this excellent project. For more information contact us.
www.imaginationlibrary.com and www.cleethorpesrotary.org cleethorpesrotarydpil on Face Book