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From the Director
Local leaders across the state are continuing to find new and innovative ways to reach, engage, and support children and families to boost early language and literacy.
A coalition in Dalton-Whitfield County has been working together for more than a decade to engage and empower parents of young children, deliver professional development to early educators, and devise a system of care for high-quality child care centers. The team has brought in over $13.5 million in outside funding and improved third-grade reading scores in its highest risk schools by double digits.
Check out a webinar recently hosted by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading that highlights how literacy leaders in Dalton-Whitfield are empowering the community to support and encourage literacy at every age.
With gratitude,
Arianne
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 Decatur County Families Dig Into Backpacks That Promote Learning at Home
The Get Georgia Reading at Home initiative in Decatur County aims to support early learners’ language and literacy development while also helping to prevent learning loss during the summer months. Families received backpacks filled with learning resources for students in grades K – 3. Focusing on early literacy is a priority in Decatur.
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 Baby Bulldogs Boost Early Learning and Literacy
Two months after launching its new Baby Bulldog Program, Lanier County Family Connection has already engaged nearly 200 children under age 5. In addition to tote bags filled with books, learning activities, and more, families receive text and email updates about pre-K registration and other news from the school district and community partners. “Enrolling” children beginning at birth is a growing trend in Georgia.
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 Literacy on the Lawn Brings Families Together
The annual family game night hosted by Seminole County Family Connection was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. This March, the Get Georgia Reading Campaign community reimagined the event so that families could safely come together at Seminole County Elementary School to play games, receive books, and learn about local resources. Third-grade reading proficiency is a top priority for the Collaborative.
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 Literacy Emerges From the Shadows
Get Meriwether Reading is reaching children by merging the arts with their literacy initiatives. The county used several arts-related grants it received to contract with a Columbus-based nonprofit to lead second graders through a series of puppetry workshops inspired by the book Lily Brown’s Paintings. The residency was designed to encourage a love and enthusiasm for reading.
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 Cobb Collaborative Kicks off Free Little Library Effort
Local leaders in the City of Powder Springs recently dedicated the first lending library with the goal of installing 21 libraries across the county this year. Cobb County Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education students and local Girl Scout troops are building the libraries to ensure that all children have access to books during the summer and throughout the year. Two out of three children living in poverty have no books to call their own.
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Visit GeorgiaSummer.org for meal assistance, safety tips, learning resources, and more.
New Initiative Increases ACCESS to Child Care
ACCESS (Awarding Child Care Education Schoolarship Supplements), a federally funded initiative of Bright from the Start: Department of Early Care and Learning, is designed to mitigate the negative financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Georgia’s child care industry while also ensuring that eligible families continue to have access to high-quality early learning programs. ACCESS will pay the full cost of child care from May 2021 through Oct. 2, 2022.
ZERO TO THREE Explores the State of Babies
ZERO TO THREE recently released the State of Babies Yearbook 2021, which provides data at both the national and state levels on the well-being of infants and toddlers. Addressing good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences, this analysis is designed to support policymakers, advocates, and stakeholders in ensuring that all young children have the supports they need to thrive. Watch recordings from ZERO TO THREE’s virtual summit.
Virtual Professional Learning Series Tackles Literacy Topics
The Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy’s virtual professional learning series has featured an informative and engaging session each month in 2021. Delivered by leading experts in the field of neuroscience and literacy development, these sessions explore the oral foundations of literacy, how to support language and vocabulary development, how to boost phonemic awareness, and more.
Webinar Series Offers Insights and Guidance for Summer Programs
The Voices of Summer webinar series, organized by the National Summer Learning Association, provides actionable insights and guidance for summer programs, including how to leverage Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding for summer arts opportunities, create healing-centered summer programs, reimagine summer school, and connect with students and families now as a strategy for boosting school attendance in the fall.
PLAY Card Aims to Increase Students’ Access to Local Libraries
Georgia Public Library Service is now offering PINES PLAY (Library Access for Youth) cards to boost students’ access to local public libraries. Libraries and school systems forge local agreements for how to implement the PLAY card, providing students with digital materials and the ability to check out books. This initiative is underway in 12 Georgia school systems and already reaching 89,000 students.
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CGLR Learning Tuesdays Webinars
June 22 and 29, July 13 and 20; 3 p.m.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s (CGLR) series of online learning events for the CGLR Network helps lift up the best science, ideas, and programs to inform local efforts. The June 22 session is called “Tools of the Mind: Key Steps to Create a Culture of Learning,” and the June 29 session is called “Playful Learning: Accelerating Learning Post-COVID By Increasing Engagement.” Register Now
Crucible of Practice Salons
July 6; 12:30 p.m.
This monthly CGLR webinar series provides a deep-dive exploration of how community coalitions are approaching and moving the work to improve the early school success prospects of children from economically challenged families, neighborhoods, and communities. Register Now
Funder-to-Funder Conversations
June 22; 12:30 p.m.
This monthly CGLR webinar series engages and informs the local, state, and national funders that support early learning, grade-level reading, and early school success, providing opportunities for shared learning, collaboration, and co-investment between and among local funders and with their more national counterparts. The upcoming session is called “Parent Coaching: Helping Parents Prevent the Summer Slide.” Register Now
CGLR Week (Virtual Event)
SAVE THE DATE: Monday – Friday, July 26 – 30
Explore strategies to accelerate learning recovery and close the achievement and opportunity gaps that have widened during COVID-19. CGLR will host plenaries daily at 3 p.m., while leaders of state and community coalition leaders will host additional sessions throughout the week.
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We Want to Hear from You
Our partners are the heroes in this work. We want to help connect you to each other and to resources that can help you get even greater results. Please share your stories with us so we can post them to getgeorgiareading.org. Send your stories—or any questions about the Campaign—to Arianne Weldon at arianne@gafcp.org.
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