Charlotte, N.C. (February 3, 2020) – Read Charlotte announced a new campaign Monday to ignite momentum around teaching key pre-literacy skills, a move that has the potential of significantly improving reading scores in Mecklenburg County.
In Spring 2019, only 46 percent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools third grade students scored at College & Career Ready on the North Carolina state third grade reading assessment.
Research over multiple decades shows that these reading gaps begin before children start school. Ensuring mastery of a few key basic skills before Kindergarten can help close this gap and it increases the odds that children read proficiently by third grade: 1. Learning the ABCs; 2. Learning the sounds that letters make; 3. Writing their own name; and 4. Reading with an adult at least three times a week.
“The solution to improving reading in our community starts with making sure all of our children get these basic fundamentals before they start Kindergarten. We can make a big difference by simply zeroing in on a few skills,” says Read Charlotte Executive Director Dr. Munro Richardson. “These are basic skills that many adults in our community can help a young child learn before they start school. We want to simplify the process for local families and community members by empowering them with specific strategies, focused mainly on the ABCs.”
The organization has created an online portal to raise awareness and make it easier for adults to help kids to master their ABCs. At LetsGoCLT.org, adults can find free resources to help children ages 3 to 5 years learn their ABCS, write their name and get high-quality shared reading time.
“Together, we can ensure that thousands more kids in our community start school ready to learn to read. Imagine the impact this will make for our schools, teachers, families and children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg,” states Richardson.
