For over 40 years, BookSpring has been providing a critical role in closing the early literacy gap in Central Texas. Grown out of the work of two acclaimed national organizations, Read Out and Read and Reading Is Fundamental, BookSpring was created out of a merger of the two local affiliates in 2008, and has continued to combine the best practices of these two approaches tailored to suit the unique character of Central Texas. Through schools, childcare centers, medical clinics, and community partners, we reach an average of 40,000 children with over 140,000 books each year. We provide hundreds of hours of motivational activities to children through our program partners and volunteers, increasing the parent’s motivation to read aloud and the child’s motivation to learn to read. Through access to books and training on how to engage with words and content, we aim to inspire a lifelong love of reading.
BookSpring provides reading experiences, tools, and books to children and their families so they can develop a desire to read and succeed in school and life.
BookSpring’s vision is a community where all children have the opportunity to become literate.
Do your students suffer endlessly from the wiggles?
Need new ideas to help you create a Read Aloud that is interactive, motivating and cognitively challenging while still being developmentally appropriate for our early childhood students?
If you answered "YES!" to any of these questions, then this workshop is for YOU!
Support parents on how to:
- Choose books for this age group
- Learn the characteristics and purposes of different books available for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners.
- Interactive strategies that make the best of story time.
Believe it or not, story time can be even more magical than it is already, with just a few expert tweaks!
Learn to increase parent engagement at your school/center based on best practices and Texas House Bill 4 standards.
Accomplish these goals through the use of free and low cost (fun!) literacy resources available to all!
Supports Strand 2 of the Family Engagement Plan, specifically:
- (D) equip families with tools to enhance and extend learning using strategies such as:
(i) designing or implementing existing home educational resources to support learning at home while strengthening the family/school partnership;
(iii) equipping families with resources and skills to support their children through the transition to school and offering opportunities for families and children to visit the school in advance of the prekindergarten school year;
(v) providing families with information, best practices, and training related to age-appropriate developmental expectations;
- Read Aloud:
(i) designing or implementing existing home educational resources to support learning at home while strengthening the family/school partnership;
(ii) providing families with information and/or training on creating a home learning environment connected to formal learning opportunities;
(iv) providing complementary home learning activities for families to engage in at home with children through information presented in newsletters, online technology, social media, parent/family-teacher conferences, or other school- or center-related events;
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