Mission
Read To Them's Mission
To enable every family in North America to read quality children's novels out loud, together, at home.
Who? - Families
Parents are in a unique position to create daily positive interactions with their children about books and reading. They are their children’s first role model and teacher.
What? - Reading chapter books aloud
Children, especially those from less literate homes, need to be exposed to rich vocabulary and complex, grammatically correct sentences. Listening to chapter books read aloud on a regular basis is an effective way to further this literacy growth. It also creates excitement and discussion about books and promotes the habit of reading. The more children are read to, the better they get at reading.
Where? - At home
Schools are charged with the awesome responsibility of teaching all children to read -- including many who do not come to school prepared to read. Parents who read to their children at home prepare them to become effective readers. This home activity provides a daily reading vitamin crucial to a healthy literacy diet.
How? - Through the OSOB and ODOB programs
One School, One Book and One District, One Book are literacy and community building programs. They are tools to reach families through the schools -- based on a simple premise and simple operating procedures. In both programs, every participating elementary school family receives a copy of the same high quality children’s novel. Under gentle guidance every family reads the book over the course of a designated month. Interest in the book is created and augmented at school through demanding daily trivia questions. The result is a school wide/district wide conversation about a book. That conversation leaves the classroom to enter the cafeteria, the playground, and the parking lot, and it comes to involve every layer of the school community.
Why? - Listening leads to literacy
President Obama has exhorted parents to read to their children. OSOB/ODOB shows parents how to do so. Other reading programs shower books on families without direction. Our programs enable parents to read aloud children’s novels at home by doing it as a community. Ample research demonstrates that children who are read to at home on a regular basis become better readers and are more successful in school. Listening leads to literacy.