Literacy Initiatives

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 Developed by the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) in 2017, the Read to Succeed program is designed to promote early literacy and language development by supporting families with young children in establishing home libraries with culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate children’s books and supplementary resources. With generous support from the United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, the goal of our initiative is to empower Black families with effective and practical knowledge, tools, and resources to equip their young children with the early language and literacy skills needed to ensure their early academic success. 

According to a 2016 study led by the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University (NYU):

• Access to print resources—board books, stories, and informational books—early on has both immediate and long-term effects on children’s vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension skills.
• While public libraries are critically important in giving families access to books, the presence of books in the home is related to children's reading achievement.

When children see characters that reflect their own identity in the books they read, they feel validated, gaining a strong sense of confidence and pride in themselves, their experiences, and their culture.

 The free online tool is the family-focused version of the A2i system. It uses short quizzes to determine a child’s current reading level and then provides results, an individual reading plan, and recommendations for specific activities to do at home. Read Charlotte curated or created nearly 400 skill-building activities to embed in Reading Checkup.