CREATING A CULTURE OF FAMILY READING
Julie Douglas
Imagine a community where a parent reading to a young child is a common sight. Reminders to read
to children are everywhere, from messages on posters and tee shirts, to verbal reminders from pediatricians
and business owners. Workshops about storytelling and reading are readily available and free. Children’s
books are distributed at every community event. Volunteer readers bring storybooks to life at local daycare
centers, the county health office, and community gatherings. Everywhere, the message is clear—reading to
babies, toddlers, and preschoolers is IMPORTANT!
If you are in one of the Missouri Humanities Council’s Read First! communities, these things are a
reality. Since 2008, MHC and 10 Read First! partner communities have worked to increase the number of
parents who read regularly to their young children. The idea behind Read First! is simple: create a culture of
family reading in a community so that parents are encouraged and supported in their efforts to read to their
children.
READ from the START
Encouraging parents to read to their young children is not new to the Missouri Humanities Council. In
1996, MHC launched a program called READ from the START, designed to teach parents how to create positive
experiences with books and stories. Research is clear about the impact that reading and storytelling have in a
child’s development and success in learning. “Oral language is the foundation for children’s learning and the
pre-K years are a crucial time for language development” (Preschool Curriculum, 2009). Unfortunately many
children do not hear stories or have books read to them. The United States Department of Education (2009)
reports that only about 45% of 2-year-olds are read to regularly; only 28% are regularly told stories.
In lively, interactive RFTS workshops, parents and caregivers of young children are exposed to quality
children’s books and encouraged to read to their children. Participants read and discuss a variety of high
quality children’s literature. They talk about the illustrations and themes and explore ways to make the books
come alive for their children. Participants experiment with reading with expression. They learn to ask
questions and engage their child in conversation. After reading, the group brainstorms ideas for extending the
stories using art, music, and movement. Most important, participants become enthusiastic about sharing
books and stories with their kids. Armed with a renewed commitment to read to their children, and a set of
seven children’s books they will keep, parents return home, and hopefully, continue to read and tell stories
regularly.
A Community Approach to Encourage Family Reading
Read First! grew out of MHC’s commitment to family
reading. Looking for a way to keep the excitement about
reading alive once a parent completed READ from the START,
the Council began to investigate what kind of support could
be offered to parents in the communities where they live.
What would it take to “create a culture of family reading?”
Julie Douglas is the Family Program
Specialist at the Missouri Humanities
Council. She has managed the READ from
the START program since 2006 and
worked on the team that created Read
First!
Using READ from the START as the cornerstone, MHC developed a plan that included inviting Missouri
communities to become “Read First! Communities.” Each participating community would gather together a
coalition of local agencies and organizations committed to increasing family reading. MHC would provide
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