The Office of Governor Jeb Bush, Fla., has launched an initiative called "Just Read, Florida!" as part of an effort to improve literacy and reading achievement statewide. The new initiative emphasizes the importance of developing literacy skills early in life. To promote this, beginning in the fall, parents of every newborn in Florida will receive an I'm a Reader! kit when they leave the hospital. The kit provides activities that will help prepare children to learn to read when they enter school. "Parents are their child's first teachers and they lay the foundations of reading through responsive caregiving, word games, sharing stories and interactive play," said Katherine Kamiya, executive director of the Florida Partnership for School Readiness. Based on research strategies for reading, the I'm a Reader! package includes Florida's Sunrise Skill Builders booklet, which provides guidelines on the intellectual, physical and social stages of infants through children age five, a library card application, information for online resources and a book that parents can read to their child. For more information, visit http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/government/governorinitiatives/reading/index.html or call 1-800-237-5113. Target Stores, through its initiative "Take Charge of EducationSM," has increased its commitment to schools and students by providing grants, scholarships and fundraising donations. Recently, Target teamed up with the U.S. Department of Education to support the goals of No Child Left Behind, focusing primarily on early childhood reading initiatives. Using baby registry kiosks in stores across the country as part of its "Lullaby ClubSM," Target expects to reach over half a million new or expecting parents with a message about the importance of reading at a young age. Target will communicate that message in two of their Sunday newspaper fliers between June and September, which will reach 53 million readers each week. In addition, beginning this fall, all 1,125 Target stores will have posters at selected checkout lanes reinforcing that message. And, finally, Target has committed two weeks of airtime on Spanish-language radio stations for back-to-school messages. For more information about Target's initiatives, visit http://www.target.com and select the link "Community," or call 1-800-316-6142. ZERO TO THREESM-in collaboration with the Erikson Institute and the Boston University School of Medicine-has recently expanded its "BrainWonders" Web site to include comprehensive information on early literacy. BrainWonders, which focuses on how the brain develops within the context of relationships from conception through age three, is an online guide to early development for parents, child-care providers and pediatricians. The new content is based on early literacy theory that emphasizes the natural unfolding of skills through the enjoyment of books, the importance of positive interactions between young children and adults, and the critical role of literacy-rich experiences. BrainWonders offers tips on fostering early literacy through such behaviors as book handling, looking and recognizing, picture and story comprehension, and storyreading. "BrainWonders has been a wonderful collaboration among three institutions and has meticulously kept true to the science of early development. We are pleased that this resource has been so well received," said ZERO TO THREE's Executive Director Matthew Melmed. For more information, visit http://www.zerotothree.org/brainwonders or call 202-638-1144. While these resources are relevant to the mission of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, they are available from a variety of sources, and their presence here does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.
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