Our Books from Birth program seeks to tackle low levels of literacy in the Latrobe Valley region of Victoria (particularly targeting those who are disadvantaged due to socio-economic circumstances and hardship through activities aimed at new mothers with new born children. Our focus is homes/families with generational literacy and children “at high risk” of early ...
Reading Out of Poverty Inc
Books from Birth
GOAL
$25,000
RAISED
$25,000
Australia > National / Multi-state > Metro and Regional
Field of Interest
- Community and economic development
- Education/training and employment
Target Population
- Early years (0-5)
- People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
Reading Out of Poverty Inc
We give children from low-income homes across Australia the foundational literacy skills to flourish, regardless of their circumstances, and to empower parents/carers as children’s first teachers from birth to school.
We are focused on 12 of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Victoria and 8 other communities in QLD, NSW and WA.
In these communities:
We provide Books to children to nurture a love and habit of reading every day.
We support new parents with books, support, resources and baby books,Our Impact
Since September 2013, we have provided.
456,000 books and educational resources distributed to disadvantaged communities.
Supported 19,300 new parents supported with free children’s books and resources.
Established 320 Pop-Up Libraries
Distributed 35,000 multilingual children’s books.
Provided 3502 Read Aloud sessions.
Partnered with 242 local community groups.
Provided 82,300 volunteer hours.
Created 670 digital books and resources
Reached 953,000 people with community education and awareness about the importance of early literacy development.
Nourishing a child’s mind with words in the first five years of life is as essential as feeding her body. Research confirms that what happens to children’s brains in their earliest years shapes the adults they become, the success they achieve, and the contributions they make to our economy and society. Unfortunately, too many of our kids today are not getting the nourishment they need.
Many children who grow up in low-income families enter school with substantially smaller vocabularies than their classmates. And this disadvantage leads to further disparities
Project Summary
Our Books from Birth program seeks to tackle low levels of literacy in the Latrobe Valley region of Victoria (particularly targeting those who are disadvantaged due to socio-economic circumstances and hardship through activities aimed at new mothers with new born children.
Our focus is homes/families with generational literacy and children “at high risk” of early reading development due to poverty or limited interest in early development of foundational literacy skill from birth.
The research is saying, children from low-income backgrounds if they don’t receive suitable “at home” exposure to books, words, songs and educational play between 0-5, they will start school well behind..
We want to address getting children to start their literacy journey from birth and be school ready at age 5. We will provide baby books and literacy starter kits to 3500 new mothers in 4 low income communities in the Latrobe Valley in a partnership with 8 Maternal Health Nurses.
We will provide mentoring, support and resources to parents so they are equipped to be effective in the development of foundational literacy skills at home.
We will help integrate the families into a local playgroup and library schools to enhance community connectedness and see our Read Aloud session modelled so they can also do at home.
We aim to teach parents the importance of their role as their child’s first teachers and to help increase their confidence to engage in literacy activities with their children.
Project Outcomes
The expected outcomes of this project:
- Provide 3500 literacy packs to children aged 0-5 years from disadvantaged families/new mothers.
- Build school readiness.
- Help parents and their child discover first-hand the joy of reading together.
- Support parents to be their child’s first teacher.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $50,000
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Griffiths Estate | $25,000 |
| Funding Gap | $25,000 |
EXPENSES
| Expense item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Books and educational resources | $22,000 |
| Project Management | $23,000 |
| volunteer training and support | $2,500 |
| admin/office | $2,500 |
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