Family Education and Literacy
Make Way for Books Family Education and Literacy Programs are two-generation programs where children and parents learn together each week through ongoing sessions in a group setting. Parents and caregivers gain skills, knowledge, and confidence as their child’s first, most essential teacher. Families receive books at every session. Young children are immersed in shared reading and literacy and language-rich interactions that build the emergent literacy and language skills they need to start school ready to read and succeed.
Story School
Story School is our intensive, two-generation program where children and parents learn together each week in a positive group setting. The model fosters community among participants as they explore and build connections around books. Children are immersed in books and literacy activities that foster their development of literacy, language, and social-emotional skills as well as positive approaches to learning they need to thrive in school and beyond. Parents/caregivers gain skills and tools to support their children’s early development.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we quickly and creatively adapted our Story School program to a new digital platform to continue supporting young children and families online. Story School is a scalable, innovative, two-generation model which means children and parents learn together simultaneously and both gain critical skills. Using books and stories as a primary tool of engagement, our model fosters children’s emergent literacy and language skills while empowering parents with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to create these powerful learning experiences with their young children and integrate them into their routines at home. In 2022, we will begin to offer all virtual as well as hyrbid (in-person and online) sessions of Story School. Families can visit mystoryschool.org to apply for our next session of Story School.
Make Way for Kindergarten
A part of our Neighborhood School Readiness Project, Make Way for Kindergarten helps children develop specific skills that teachers want them to have on the first day of school. During the summer prior to the start of kindergarten, families learn what they can expect in kindergarten, from daily routines to how to communicate with new school staff. Parents gain knowledge, resources, and confidence they need to support and advocate for their children in school!
Raising A Reader (RAR)
Every week, MWFB brings together families at a number of apartment communities and neighborhood school locations for the national evidence-based early literacy program Raising A Reader (RAR). Each RAR session is a celebration of books and reading. Children experience the joy of books, and parents learn how fun and easy it is to share stories and do activities with their young children that support their emergent literacy and language development. 98% of participating parents reported that they shared books more often with their children following the RAR program, and 86% of parents reported feeling more confident in their role as their child’s first, best teacher.
"Before Raising A Reader, I tried to read to my daughter often, but it wasn’t until the program that I learned how to make the books come alive for her."