Summer Success: Supporting Life Skills with Books
Richmond Public Library, Va.
Innovation Synopsis
Children's Associates from each library provide essential life skill focused weekly storytimes, teacher books/guides and child take home books with parent cards in kindergarten through third grade summer daycare programs. Programs also participate in our Summer Reading Program and are provided with life-skill based journals and related extension activities to deepen learning.
Challenge/Opportunity
This program helps us reach and engage at-risk elementary aged children with our traditional Summer Reading Program. By adding explicit skill building and modeling through structured weekly visits, we are trying reduce summer learning loss and empower both the the program teachers and the children. We know that in order to improve child outcomes, we need to impact the adults that influence the children. This program addresses that!
Key Elements of Innovation
- Essential life skill focused books: Library read, teacher read and child take home
- Skill focused journal to support writing and making connections
- Pre/post assessments to evaluate change
- Supports for teachers and parents to enhance learning and engagement
- Related extension activities to make learning visible
- Greater participation in Summer Reading Program
- Library staff engagement and implementation across the city
- Taking the program where the kids are for greater success!
Achieved Outcomes
- More children reading over the summer
- Greater teacher engagement and focus in supporting children's learning in typically "loose" summer programs
- Connection to home through books and parent cards
- Children have greater awareness of life skills and work to use them purposefully.
