“The benefits to reading to your children at an early age are phenomenal,” says Keely Patterson, program coordinator for Read to Me, a free family literacy program in Flin Flon.
Patterson is looking for families to enroll for the current session of Read to Me, one of three eight-week sessions offered from September to March.
Although the session started earlier this month, there is still room for new registrants.
Launched in Flin Flon in 1995, Read to Me offers educational programming for both preschoolers and their caregivers.
Kids benefit from story time, sing-alongs and crafts while parents can connect with qualified speakers such as dieticians and nurses, who lead short workshops on topics relevant to them.
Patterson knows the benefits of Read to Me well: she attended the program as a parent twice, with her two younger children Ethan and Drew, and also participated as a child-care worker before becoming coordinator.
“It was fabulous,” she recalls. “I learned a lot through it, about issues with eating, bedtime routines.”
For kids, the structured program is a gentle introduction to the routines they’ll encounter in kindergarten, Patterson explains.
As parents and children spend part of each Read to Me afternoon in separate classrooms, the preschoolers also get used to short periods of separation from their parents.
Ultimately, though, Read to Me is about literacy. By making storytime fun with props and songs, Patterson hopes to spark a love of books in the young participants.
She also aims to educate parents about the value of regular one-on-one reading time with their children. To help facilitate reading at home, Read to Me has a lending library of children’s books and a reward system to encourage kids to borrow: once a child has borrowed six books, she earns a free book to take home.
This session of Read to Me is being held at École McIsaac School in the Read to Me room, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 3:30.
The program is administered by the Community Adult Learning Centre (CALC) and funded by the Manitoba government as part of the Health Child Manitoba strategy.
To register, contact Patterson at 306-688-2168 or [email protected].
