Children’s literacy program info sessions set March 20, 27
Since September 2020, Read Aloud Delaware has been working with young families through the LENA Start program to help parents measure, improve and make the most of verbal connections with their young children.
The children’s literacy program is recruiting families with children from birth to 3 years old for the next session, which will run weekly from Tuesday, April 2 to Tuesday, June 4.
Information sessions for interested families will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesdays, March 20 and March 27. Parents and guardians can find more information by going to readalouddelaware.org/lenastart or calling the Read Aloud Delaware Sussex County office at 302-856-2527.
The program uses a device called a “talk pedometer” to measure the ambient sounds within the environment of children enrolled in the program – the adult words they hear, the conversational interactions they have, and various sounds such as TV, radio or other electronic noise. Parents are provided with feedback and participate in one-hour weekly workshops during the 10-week program. LENA facilitators offer simple techniques to help them increase their children’s exposure to oral language.
Participation in the program is free, and families receive incentives for meeting certain milestones, including a free book each week.
Read Aloud Delaware is a statewide organization dedicated to early childhood literacy for 40 years. The LENA Start program, headquartered in Boulder, Colo., was created to help close the language, learning and opportunity gaps for children.
