Florida program aims to create a life-long love of reading one (free) book at a time | Opinion

A new school year is under way for children throughout Florida and everyone — whether student, parent or teacher — is adapting to new people, new lessons and new routines. One item that should be on families’ to-do list as they settle in for the year: Developing a plan for at-home learning.

Our schools serve students, guiding them through the development of both learning and life skills from preschool to 12th grade. However, schools don’t work alone. Learning begins at home, where caregivers are a child’s first and most important teacher. Families need resources to support children’s learning outside of school, particularly when it comes to reading — a foundational skill that has ripple effects throughout students’ lives, both in their educational years and beyond.

Data show that children who are not reading on level by grade 3 are more likely to not graduate from high school. This fact is part of the impetus behind the New Worlds Reading Initiative, a statewide effort to provide Florida families with the resources they need to boost their children’s reading skills.

Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, championed the program in the Florida Legislature, which provided initial funding to launch the initiative in June 2021. The Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida administers the initiative, which sends children in grades K-5 one free book a month from October to June once they enroll in the program. Their families also receive free literacy resources to guide them on how to strengthen their child’s love of and skill in reading. The New Worlds Reading Initiative website also provides videos that offer tips and strategies to support caregivers in engaging with children to help the new concepts stick.

To be eligible to enroll, children must be attending a Florida public or district-sponsored charter school and, based on state assessments, not yet reading at grade level. To date, more than 130,000 students have signed up for the program.

During enrollment, students and their caregivers identify areas of interest, allowing students to build a personalized at-home library. Having choices encourages reading, since children who have access to books that genuinely capture their interest and imaginations are more inclined to want to read.

And who isn’t excited about getting a special delivery, designed just for them, once a month?

With each passing month their personal library grows, giving children easy access to reading material. Studies show there are long-lasting benefits to having access to books in the home while growing up.

The primary goal of the New Worlds Reading Initiative is to strengthen children’s literacy skills and boost their reading confidence. But the program also has another aim: to foster a lifelong love of reading, which will benefit children as they progress through the K-12 grades and throughout the rest of their lives.

Reading should not feel like a chore; it should be a joy, a means of learning, understanding, imagining and exploring. Looking back on my own childhood, I spent countless hours reading the “Babysitter’s Club.” Now, as a parent, I share that joy with my own children daily, reading family favorites to them like “Ron’s Big Mission” and the “Who Would Win?” series. At New Worlds Reading, we want all of Florida’s children to be able to experience that joy with their own families.

Shaunté Duggins is the assistant director of the New Worlds Reading Initiative, based in the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning.