Components

The components of Let’s Read are:

training community based professionals so they can show and support parents to have fun reading with their child and develop their child’s early literacy skills.
resources to give to families. These resources are age specific. Messages about how to read with a young child needs to be given to a parent on more than one occasion. Examples of resources for the families are shown below.
a community approach to promote the importance of literacy through existing services and systems, to reach as many families as possible and sustain the program for the long term. Let’s Read provides a Community Facilitator and a Community Guide to support the planning and implementation of the program in each community. Simple community messages have been developed to support the promotion of literacy. Examples of these resources are shown below.

These components are designed to complement each other so that they will have the greatest potential to support children to develop the skills that will enable them to learn to read when they start school.

The Let’s Read initiative is unique. It has been designed to take a universal approach and to support parents to support their child to develop the building blocks they need to learn to read. The recognition of the important role that existing community based professionals can play to delivery such a program, builds on an understanding of the need to address sustainability when developing any program.

Resources for the family - given by the trained community based professional in a one to one discussion

Simple parent information leaflets to guide parents in sharing books with their children in an age appropriate, effective and enjoyable way. There are sheets for each age group these being: from 4 months, from 12 months, from 18 months, and from 3½ years.
DVD demonstrating strategies to develop early literacy skills, and including age appropriate books being read aloud for the child. The DVD is especially suitable for parents/carers who are illiterate or have a low literacy level.
Suggested book lists to support parents in selecting and reading books with their children.
Age appropriate book. Giving a book to the family encourages them to read, and also ensures the availability of books for families who may otherwise find it difficult for finanial reasons to purchase books.

Resources for community

Community Guide. The Community Guide provides practical support to the community when implementing Let’s Read.

This is an 84 page manual outlining the tasks needed to be undertaken, ranging from forming a committee through to evaluation.

Community Awareness Sheets. There are four "community awareness" sheets. These have been designed to be used in community settings to reinforce the messages that are given to parents by the trained community based professionals.

Each community awareness sheet has a theme and provides some simple suggestions about what to do. Two of the sheets have been designed with space for the community print their own promotional information. This space could be used to advertise upcoming literacy activities such as story time at the library, competitions to win books.