The new and expanded The Children’s Trust Book Club is officially launching in July and making it easier than ever for Miami-Dade's youngest children to read with their families.
So what's new and expanded about it? How about a free book every month in the mail for the first five years of your child’s life!
That equals a total of 60 free books and it could be the start of your child’s journey to success in school and a lifelong love for reading and learning. Since 2012, Miami-Dade County 3-year-olds have had access to a book club that offers a free book every month, but because The Children’s Trust recognizes the critical nature of early learning for the overall development of youth and as a predictor in their future school and life success, a decision was made to expand the program. When parents read books with children it supercharges their imagination, helps them develop language and listening skills, and has been shown to improve performance in school, numerous studies show.
“We know that the most critical phase of learning happens before kindergarten,” said President and CEO of The Children’s Trust James R. Haj. “Expanding the Book Club to all children from birth to 5 years old gives access to a wealth of books for even more parents and caregivers to be able to sit with their children and learn about the world and each other.”
In partnership with the Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership, The Children’s Trust is also making it easier for families to register as they can simply do so by texting “READ”or “LEER” to 786.460.CLUB (2582). The book club also features new interactive reading guides to help parents learn how best to read and share each book with their children and how to make the time spent together rewarding and enjoyable.
As for the books themselves, the book club includes classics, award-winners and picture books to engage even newborns and infants. All books are selected specifically to help children develop their early reading skills for school readiness and, of course, for maximum enjoyment with their families!
Everything is about to get better with The @childrenstrust Book Club! The new, improved and expanded book club is coming soon to offer free, monthly books by mail for children from birth through their 5th birthday living in Miami-Dade County. Go to https://t.co/3YjcQqaIci. pic.twitter.com/wg7wiKSErG
— childrenstrust (@childrenstrust) June 1, 2020
More than 90 percent of parents who signed up their children for the original book club reported that they read to their children three or more times a week, learned how to identify age-appropriate books, and all of them said that the reading increased their understanding of school readiness skills.
While tens of thousands of books have already been sent out, with the launch of the new Book Club, The Children’s Trust hopes to sign up 90,000 children under 5 years old in the county in the next five years.