The Take Home Book Program

A school-based program of family literacy

Program Overview

Program Need Many students arrive at school under-prepared to learn to read because of a shortage of print materials in the home as well as insufficient one-on-one reading time with an adult. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), reports only one third of fourth graders are at or above reading proficiency. A child who is four or five months behind at the end of first grade has only one in five or six chances of ever catching up. Nine in ten children who do not read on grade level by third grade will continue to read below the standard.

Program Description The Take Home Book Program fosters a shared culture of reading in families and schools by providing kindergarten, first and second grade classrooms with thirty hard cover books in canvas book bags. Classrooms also receive a drawing-writing journal for every child. Students take a book home every Monday. Parents read the books to their child and the child draws a picture and writes a sentence about each story in their journal. Teachers also read and discuss the books in the classroom as part of their classroom instruction.

Program Effectiveness - Research Base Current research from Johns Hopkins Center on Family, School, and Community Partnerships states that parents want their children to succeed in school but need specific direction from teachers. “When a teacher makes a specific request of a parent, such as, 'read this book to your child,' 85 percent of the parents respond positively regardless of their socioeconomic level.” (Epstein) “Parents need to read aloud daily, supply engaging books, listen to their child read, and help their child develop foundational skills for reading.” (Hall and Moats)

Program Effectiveness - Stanford Evaluation “97 percent of program parents report reading more with their child because of the Take Home Book Program. 85 percent of program parents report learning useful information to help their child learn to read. The program is clearly appreciated by parents, teachers and students and is vital to a shared practice of early literacy between home and school.” The program has also received a favorable review by the California Department of Education.

Program Accomplishments 1998 - 2009 The Take Home Book Program has been provided to more than 3,000 classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area; classroom cost has been reduced 67% to $450 or $3.21 per child; participating school districts report the program has established effective home-school partnerships in early literacy, increased the literacy development of students and become an embedded classroom practice maintained by the schools.