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1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is a self-paced program that encourages families to read to their children from a young age. Decide when and how long to read to your child, and receive reading incentives along the way.
Who can enter the program?
Children from birth through the start of kindergarten. Please use the chart below as a guideline to reach 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten based on your child's age.
| Child's Age | Books/Day | Books/Week |
|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 1 | 4 |
| 1 year | 1 | 5 |
| 2 years | 1 | 7 |
| 3 years | 2 | 10 |
| 4 years | 3 | 20 |
What are the goals of the program?
- To encourage families to read aloud to their young children
- To introduce children to a variety of books
- To promote early literacy so children can enter school ready to learn
- To reinforce parents' role as their child's first teachers
- To encourage families to regularly use the library for lifelong learning
How does the program work?
- Register your child at the Youth Services Reference Desk or register online on Beanstack.
- Pick up your log book (unless you prefer to track reading on the app).
- Read aloud to your child.
- Keep track of your reading progress with the stickers in your log book and/or with the Beanstack app/website.
- Every 200 books you read, bring your log book to the Library to receive a prize.
- When you have read 1,000 books, join us for a graduation party for all children who have completed the program during the prior year.
Why should I participate in this program?
The program will help your child build the following early literacy skills:
Vocabulary
Knowing the specific names of things
Print motivation
Developing an interest and an enjoyment of books
Print awareness
Knowing how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page
Letter recognition
Knowing that letters have names, are different from each other, and that specific sounds go with specific letters
Phonological awareness
Being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words
Narrative skills
Being able to describe things, events, and tell stories