On December 16th, it was announced that Washington State was one of nine states to win a collective $500 million from the federal government, part of an education initiative – the “Race to the Top” grant competition! The goal of the competition and the funds are specifically for states to invest in more children from birth to five years old so that they are ready for kindergarten. Washington State placed third among the 37 applications and will receive a four-year grant totally $60 million dollars…

Atlantic Street Center, a multi-service nonprofit organization in Seattle, has been offering the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) since 2004 and in 2010 partnered with United Way of King County as one of the agencies that will help bring the program to families throughout King County.  The Parent-Child Home Program is a proven early literacy, school readiness and parenting program that encourages verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their preschool children in families that have had limited exposure to educational opportunities and activities.  Atlantic…

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: The SOC Funding Committee is a sub-committee of the Strengthening Our Community Impact Council made up of a diverse group of community volunteers and human service professionals for the purpose of evaluating funding applications and making allocation recommendations to the Strengthening Our Community Council.

If you have time for a short-term volunteer commitment (December 2011 – March 2012), or know someone who does please contact NaKeesa Frazier at nfrazier@uwkc.org for more details!

In a recent research study performed by Developmental Studies staff at Purdue University, it was found that there is a link between a child’s interest in literacy and their behavior.  The study focused on low-income preschoolers ages 3-5.  One specific finding of the study noted that book choices available to children are important and that parents and teachers need to ensure that there are a variety of books available that both girls and boys would be interested in.  United Way of King County’s Volunteer Reader…

Last year the Mayor launched the Youth and Families Initiative and through that work met with over 3,000 community members to learn about the help that local children needed to be successful in school and during their out of school time.  Through the Youth and Families Initiative, Engage Seattle Initiative and the Cities of Service Initiative, the Mayor called for community members to volunteer as reading tutors, mentors, and after school volunteers.  Recent data has shown that this is making a difference in the lives…

Created for children 3-5 years old and their parents or caregivers, Small Frye brings children’s stories and contemporary favorites to life in the Frye Art Museum galleries.

Through tales and songs, Small Frye introduces children to a wide variety of words and sounds, preparing them for reading and writing. Movement and play are incorporated into story time, fostering creative thinking and problem solving in an interdisciplinary environment.

Stories of transformation and renewal are the themes for May and June with librarians from The Seattle Public…

On May 25, 2011, the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a competitive $500 million dollar state-level grant to the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge. The Race to the Top challenge focuses on the improvement of early learning and development programs for young disadvantaged children. “For kids, high quality early learning programs mean they will enter school better prepared with a greater chance of finishing high school and college,” said Vice President Joe Biden,…

May is Get Caught Reading month!  This is a nationwide campaign by the Association of American Publishers to encourage people of all ages to read and realize how fun it can be!  In honor of Get Caught Reading Month, United Way of King County’s Volunteer Reader Program would like to encourage you to Get Caught Reading to a Child!  Many people may be aware that children who do well in kindergarten tend to be successful throughout their school careers however children who are unprepared typically…

Wednesday’s Project LEAD Graduation and Agency Fair was a great outreach opportunity for our Volunteer Reader Program, which is working to increase the diversity of its cohort of Readers.  Project LEAD—Leadership Effectiveness and Diversity– is United Way of King County’s leadership training program that prepares highly qualified people of color to become knowledgeable, responsive and strong civic leaders.  In addition to Project LEAD graduates who may be interested in the program, we extend an invitation to all potential volunteers, with a special appeal to people…

Greetings from the Volunteer Reader Program!  Last Thursday evening, we had another wonderful Volunteer Reader Program Training and we would like to give a special thank you to Maren Ostergard with the King County Library System for providing the training and for another great job!  Volunteer Readers learned about the dialogic reading method, 6 essential Early Literacy skills (Print Motivation, Print Awareness, Vocabulary, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge and Phonological Awareness), were introduced to a variety of new books, were able to ask questions of current…