Baby Literacy Project
Strong Start® is excited to be part of a new baby literacy project in Waterloo Region. In 2008, Strong Start received funding to conduct a feasibility study for a local baby literacy program. Fifteen partnering organizations participated in the study. The study found a need for a baby literacy toolkit for parents to use to ensure babies experience literacy activities that are important in the first year of life. It also identified the need and desire for structures to enhance the capacity of community organizations to provide support to families of infants with the goal of promoting literacy.
As a result of the feasibility study, a baby literacy pilot project is being delivered in the region in the fall of 2009. This program is unique because parent education is combined with a take-home kit to support parents in helping develop their child’s literacy skills.
Three local agencies will receive facilitator training and sample kits. Facilitators will incorporate what they’ve learned about baby literacy into existing baby programs. Participating parents will learn about ways to promote literacy with their baby and receive a kit to use at home. Each kit includes four books for babies, a DVD about literacy, a literacy-based CD by local children’s musician Ronno, and tips on fun ways to use the items to promote literacy with babies.
Anticipated outcomes of the program are:
- increased parent awareness of baby literacy strategies
- increased parent engagement in stimulating emergent literacy in their children age 6-12 months
- strengthened collaboration and enhanced capacity among community programs to facilitate emergent literacy (including numeracy) with families
The University of Waterloo is evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot project. If the pilot is successful and additional funding is secured, the program is planned to expand to additional sites across the region.
Thank you to the funders of the Baby Literacy Project of Waterloo Region, including the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, the David and Eleanor Yach Family Fund, and the Wallenstein Feed Charitable Foundation
Organizations
interested in implementing our programs, please contact us at
or 519-743-9578
