New Online Resource for Developing Early Literacy Skills

As pediatric professionals, you are acutely aware of the importance of developing pre-literacy skills to childhood development and helping children reach their full potential. The Stern Center for Language and Learning recently launched a free online program to help prepare children for reading by teaching parents and child care providers how to get children ready for literacy success.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY® was started in 1997 as a live course for child care providers and met with such great success it was expanded to include a 12 hour online course and an interactive family forum. Each of these resources provides a toolbox of fun activities to help children succeed at reading once they enter school.

Dr. Blanche Podhajski, President and Founder of the Stern Center for Language and Learning, said the program is so unique because it is research proven. Children whose child care providers participated in the program improved their language skills significantly more than those whose providers did not take the course. "What's most heartening," she said, "is that those in the lowest 20th percentile also rose from below to above an at-risk level. So this is actually doing two things. It's helping children start school successfully, and helping to reduce special education costs."

Dr. Podhajski added that while most people understand the importance of reading to their children, there's so much more parents and other caring adults could be doing early on to promote pre-literacy skills. "Brain research has come so far in the past twenty years. We know so much more about what children need to learn and we're not talking about children sitting behind desks–it can still be fun and interactive."

The BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY® program was developed based on research by the National Research Council and the National Early Literacy Panel and offers many practical and fun play-based activities to help facilitate language development. 

The online launch of this program in May now makes this valuable resource available on a national scale and beyond. Dr. Podhajski said that since the launch just last month, people from over 17 countries have utilized this resource and the interest level shows that there is a real hunger for easy-to-understand resources for developing early literacy skills. "It's using technology in the best possible way and really changes the way we're able to reach people."

Now that BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY® is available online, Dr. Podhajski said, "We have to let the world know about it! This program has proven results and is absolutely free."

Pediatric offices can play an important role in spreading the word. "Pediatricians are such a wonderful vehicle for transmitting information to parents of young children," said Dr. Podhajski. "By telling parents about the family forum, or having our postcard in their office or waiting room will help to get the word out." She also said they hope to soon have a DVD sampler so that pediatricians can preview the program and share it with parents. 

"We're always telling people to read to their children, but there's so much more you can do that uses real strategies and is still fun." For more information about BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY®, visit the recently launched Web site, or read about the Stern Center for Language and Learning. If you are interested in obtaining literature about the program to distribute at your practice, please contact Kate Stein at kstein@sterncenter.org.