This free program encourages families to build early literacy skills by reading together. Any child from birth to five years old and/or entering kindergarten can participate in this self-paced early literacy program.
Program Overview
The concept is simple; the rewards are priceless! Read a book (any book) to your newborn, infant, and/or toddler. The goal is to have read 1000 books before your child starts kindergarten. Does that sound daunting? If you break it down, at just 1book a night, you’ll have read 365 books in a year. 730 books in 2 years. 1095 books in 3 years! Read 2 or 3 books a night and watch the magic happen! Not only will you have had the fun of reading, you will have helped build important pre– and early-literacy skills that your child will need to become a successful reader and to do well in kindergarten and beyond. Yay, you!!
More information can be found in our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten information brochure.
How to Participate
*Call, email, or stop by the library to register. You will receive a tracking sheet and a welcome gift. You can register more than one child, and you can register kids who are 0-5 years old—you just might have to read a little faster to fit in your 1000 books before kindergarten if you start in preschool.
*Every time you read a book, colour in a book shape on the sheet.
*When you’ve reached 100 books, bring your sheet back to the library to get a new page and a sticker, not to mention a special ‘book’ to add to our community progress tracker!
*Keep reading! After every 100 books, come back to see us to check in and to celebrate your progress.
*When you reach your 1000 book goal, we have a certificate and prize for you …and we’ll probably make a big fuss about your achievement—after all, reading 1000 books is a pretty awesome accomplishment!
***If the library is currently under pandemic restrictions and patrons are not allowed to enter, please just call or email us instead of dropping by, and we’ll be happy to make sure you get registered and rewarded!***
Penhold and District Library: 403-886-2636; penholdlibrary@prl.ab.ca OR program1.penholdlibrary@gmail.com
Check out the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten iPhone App at http://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/ It’s free!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need a library card to take part in 1000BBK? A library card is not a requirement. (We’d sure love to set you up with one if you don’t already have one, though!) You do need to live in the area served by Penhold and District Library to join our program.
If we read the same book multiple times, does it count as only one book? You can count each and every reading of a book towards your 1000 book goal. Plus, you can count books read to your child by grandparents, older siblings, caregivers, and library staff at storytimes, as well as audio books—every reading counts!
My child won’t sit still for an entire book—can I still count it? Absolutely! Our goal is to make reading an enjoyable experience, so get that reading in any way you can … feel free to share books with your child in any way that works for both of you. Reading together in the early years is more about building literacy skills than it is about actually reading. Talk to your child about the illustrations, run your finger under the text from left to right as you read, point out letters and name them, show your child how to turn pages and hold a book right side up—there are lots of ways to build an early literacy foundation!
Colouring really isn’t our thing, so can we track our reading in a different way? You could just make a checkmark or star inside each book instead of colouring, or maybe put a little sticker on each space, or check out the 1000BBK app. Whatever works for your family and makes you happy
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