Durham Partnership for Children
DURHAM -- Traditional school starts this week and hundreds of Durham County kindergarteners walk through the school doors for the first time. While this is a monumental moment for parents and caregivers, it's also important for our entire Durham community that children arrive to school ready to learn.
Durham's Partnership for Children, the early childhood system builder in Durham County, has worked to develop collaborative approaches to prepare young children for success in school and life and early literacy has been one important strategic focus.
Over the past 15 years, the Partnership has worked with funded partners such as El Centro Hispano's Family Support Program, Durham County Cooperative Extension's Welcome Baby Resource Center, and Healthy Families Durham, and various others, to deliver evidence-based programs that support family literacy practices. The Partnership has also coordinated efforts with the Durham County Library and the Durham Literacy Center to seek early literacy grants to support families with young children.
So what is early literacy and why is regular exposure to age-appropriate books so important for young children? Developing literacy skills begins at birth through everyday loving intereactions such as sharing books, singing songs, and telling stories. Even early drawing and painting and picking up things serve a purpose, that of developing the hand muscles and coordination needed for learning how to write.
Research tells us that children with limited exposure to daily conversations are most at-risk for reading failure while children who have had regular exposure to daily conversations and books excel once they enter school.
Adults--parents, grandparents and teachers--play a powerful role in preparing young children for future school success and in becoming self-confident and motivated learners. When we talk about the action in stories, ask questions about the story, and model reading for young children, we are instilling a lifelong love of reading while building language and vocabulary skills.
By building public awareness for early literacy, training early childhood educators to incorporate early literacy best practices, supporting funded partners that deliver top-notch programs to families, and collaborating with businesses to participate in early literacy events, the Partnership is working to ensure all Durham County children will arrive at school healthy and ready to succeed.
Just as parents are hopeful for their children's future as they walk their kindergarteners to the school bus for the first time, Durham's Partnership for Children is also hopeful multiple strategies like those addressing early literacy will help reap long-term benefits in shaping Durham's future success.
Marsha Basloe is the executive director of Durham's Partnership for Children. She can be reached at marsha@dpfc.net. This is the second of 12 articles published in Schools and More on the fourth Tuesday each month in celebration of the Partnership's 15th Anniversary.
