Focusing Goals for Early Literacy Through Collaboration
Literacy; the ability to read, write, speak and listen in ways that let us communicate effectively and make sense of the world, is critical for every child’s success in school and in life. Children must experience a richness of written and spoken words at the earliest ages of development — from 1 to 4years old — when the brain is most actively establishing connections and laying the foundations of fluency. Washtenaw Promise seeks to increase opportunities and offer new resources to support the development of early childhood literacy skills in children who may otherwise be less successful. We do this through a variety of programs and in aggressive collaboration efforts, helping to bring others together to increase effectiveness.
Our programs include in-person mentoring in public and private preschools, penpals and “Friends in Writing” for young children, production of videos which bring the magic of storytelling to spark imagination and creativity, and several other initiatives. We currently have over 100 volunteers working with us in these efforts.