Earlier this year, I stumbled upon a local endeavor called The Madison Reading Project. The goal of the project is to promote a love of learning in young children, specifically vulnerable children in the community.
The Madison Reading Project pairs young children with a mentor for the school year. They meet with their mentor every six weeks, and swap cards and letters in-between as they practice their reading and writing skills.
I volunteered to capture some photos for them for their kick-off event and it was so rewarding to see the kids get excited about meeting their mentors and diving into a new year. On day one, everyone got to color a “cow” to hang on the wall. As the kids read pages, they will receive little sticks to create a fence throughout the year, and the more sticks they collect (i.e. the more pages they read), the more money they will raise to help them as a class buy a cow (or two or four!) for a family in need in Tanzania. Not only is the program helping the kids develop a love of reading, but it is also enabling them to help someone else – a feeling that everyone likes.
Now that sounds like a reason to get “mooving” and go read a few pages myself.
Is there a literacy program for underserved children in your area? If so, is there any way you could volunteer to help set a child up for success?