Reading is the foundation for all learning. Yet extensive research indicates that the reading skills of children, particularly those in low-income communities, decrease during the summer months. Furthermore, 88 percent of children who have difficulty reading at the end of the first grade display similar difficulties at the end of the fourth grade (Juel, 1998). A child's school success is greatly diminished if they cannot read well by the end of the third grade. Poor readers at the end of the fourth grade comprise an overwhelming percentage of school dropouts, juvenile delinquents, and prison inmates (Kingery, 1999).
Access to quality reading material should continue throughout a child's school years; however, this becomes a challenge for many children in low-income communities. For this reason and others, there is an enormous need for summer programs that focus on reading, while involving parents in the child's learning process.
To address this concern, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System's Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs unit is piloting a summer reading program in Huntsville's public housing communities called Bucks for Books. This project is being conducted in collaboration with the Family Life Center (FLC), the Huntsville Housing Authority, the Boys and Girls Club, and Girls, Inc. The goal is to instill a love of reading among children in Huntsville's underserved population.
Bucks for Books is available to children entering grades 1 - 7 during the 2003 school year. Each participant can read a maximum of five books per week from a recommended reading list. Every week the child visits the community center to give oral presentations and to submit written reports on each book read to a volunteer. Participants are then awarded $3.00 per book (up to $60.00) that is presented at a special ceremony at the end of the program.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Dr. Mel Steely of West Virginia College first introduced the concept of paying children for reading books through the "Earning by Learning" literacy program in 1990.
For more information, please call Dr. Wilma Ruffin, FLC Coordinator at 372-4960, Alison Couch at 372-4584, or Cynarra Moore, FLC Program Assistant at 533-6076.
References
Earning by Learning of Dallas. General Information. Retrieved on July 2, 3003.
Juel, C. (1998). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of fifty-four children from first through fourth grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, pp. 437-447.
Kingery, B. (1999). Reading, English and language arts. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Department of Education.