Verde Valley First Books

Almost 30% of area children live in poverty. 63% of children do not pass the AZ Dept. of Education AzMerit Literacy Exam. Our goal is to ensure that 3 & 4 year-olds living in poverty in the Verde Valley have age appropriate books in their homes. Statistics show 2 out of 3 children living in poverty have no books at home. This impairs early language and literacy development and later reading achievement. Most reading difficulties can be prevented by having access to books in early childhood.

Verde Valley First Books sponsors monthly interactive story hours for the school year for 4-year-olds in preschools, Head Start and daycare centers in Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Rimrock, and Cornville. Volunteers read the story, review letters and words, then discuss the story with the children, testing their memory, understand and relevance in their lives (using Blooms Taxonomy and NAEYC DAP guidelines). The children then take their book home, and at the end of the school year, they will have at least nine new, age-appropriate books in their homes.

The four-year-old age was chosen because these are at-risk children due to the living conditions created by low income homes and other factors. This program will get them interested in and excited about books before they enter elementary school, and also get books into their homes and classrooms. At some locations, we also include 3 year-olds.

Reading to young children also helps them:
• increase their vocabulary.
• develop school skills of listening, remembering, and analyzing.
• stimulate their imaginations.
• learn about peer relationships.
• learn coping strategies of problem situations.
• build self-esteem.
• increase their general knowledge of the world around them.

Books in the home also encourage family reading times, and further reinforce the importance of books to the child's future success in school and life.

Testimonials

Parent Comments:
-Love this program and really appreciate you ladies gifting our children with such beautiful books.
-It's an amazing thing you guys do, giving books out. He loves them.
-Thank you very much for the books. It has helped instill a love a reading in the whole family.
-My child enjoys reading the books, and he has done much better reading them.
-He gets really excited when he gets to bring a book home.
-It's very encouraging to see his desire to read more.

Teacher Comments:
-This is such a great program!
-The children enjoy the stories so much and love getting their books.
-You have helped us instill a love of books in our students by making the sharing of books fun.
-We've enjoyed this program immensely. Thanks!
-The techniques were right on target with what we are teaching in PreK.
-We use your books in class to find letters and sight words.