1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a national reading challenge for young children. The goal of the program is to inspire the love of reading. While 1000 books sounds like a lot, it’s really not. Even if you read only 1 book a day to your child, you will read more than 1000 books in three years!
Reading to young children is vital to developing their language skills, building their vocabulary, and learning to recognize expressions and decode emotions. This reading time also offers irreplaceable opportunities for bonding.
Tips for Success:
Follow your baby’s or toddler’s lead: let them choose books; don’t expect them to sit the whole time you are reading once they are mobile. The benefits of reading aloud are still valuable even if the child is exploring during the story.
Pick the right books: babies do well with sturdy board books that can withstand chewing, dropping, and more. Books with more words can be introduced as your child gets older.
Repeating books is great! Young children thrive on repetition, and benefit from reading the same book over and over.
How to Start:
Sign up in the Children’s Room.
Log your reading. You will receive a simple reading log for each 100 books your child reads.
Bring your completed log back to the library. Your child will receive a small certificate and a log for the next 100 books.
Once your child has completed all 9 reading logs, visit the library for their Certificate of Completion!