SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRST 5 COMMISSIONS PROMOTE EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY

Across Southern California, children from low-income communities are entering kindergarten without the basic early literacy skills needed for lifelong success. They enter the school system behind their more affluent peers and are unable to catch up, according to a Pearson Foundation survey.

"If we want to dramatically change children's prospects for success in school, research indicates that we must intervene earlier in life, when we can have a lifelong effect and a far greater return on investment," said newly elected state Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) a supporter of the campaign and the father of a baby girl. "I credit who I am today to the fact that my parents started early with teaching me how to read and continued to encourage my reading development during my formative years."

Through their Read Early, Read Aloud campaign, First 5 Commissions in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, an Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Kern Counties want to narrow this early childhood literacy gap. Many people do not realize that reading to children as early as birth will provide long-term benefits for a child's academic achievement.

Linda McCorkel Clinard, who has a doctorate in education and is the author of Family Time Reading Fun, is a spokesperson for the Southern California campaign. "There is an overwhelming academic consensus that the earliest years of life, from birth to age 5, is the time when a child's brain is undergoing the most growth and development," said Clinard, former literacy specialist with the California Reading and Literature Project, in the UCI Center for Educational Partnerships. "First 5 Commissions recognize the crucial need to provide reading experiences to young children and this campaign will encourage and assist parents and caregivers in creating early literacy opportunities."

The absence of early literary stimulation is the harbinger of on-going educational difficulties. Feelings of inadequacy and frustration cause children to grow to dread each new school year and frequently lead them to drop out of high school and experience chronic unemployment.

By focusing attention on the importance of early literacy as the foundation of all learning, the Read Early, Read Aloud campaign, through educational material with tips for parents, library partnerships and a variety of online activities, will help promote efforts for children to enter kindergarten prepared to succeed.

For more information visit www.ReadEarlyReadAloud.org.