Rasco From RIF

Sneaking In A Smarter Summer

July 27th, 2009

“No more pencils, no more books!
No more teachers’ crazy looks!”

Are your kids enjoying summer vacation? Great! But don’t toss out those books and pencils — they can be part of “summer fun”!  Exercising kids’ brain muscles all summer brings big benefits in the fall. And not exercising them can mean a loss of hard-earned skills.  A wise parent or caregiver can sneak a lot of learning into those lazy, hazy days.

As part of President Obama and the First Lady’s United We Serve summer service initiative, RIF has launched Read for Change to provide parents and caregivers and older siblings a visible measure to record time spent reading with young children at home and in their communities over the remainder of this summer. The site features a minute meter, which will track the time spent reading to children with a goal to reach 3 million minutes by September 11, 2009—the National Day of Service and Remembrance. RIF will then randomly select five participants to receive a children’s book collection and the opportunity to select a school in their community to also receive a book collection.

From July 27 to July 31, United We Serve is highlighting service examples in education. In recognition of Education Week, RIF will daily highlight RIF volunteers who have gone the extra mile in motivating children to read across the United States.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jalonda Smith of Alabama

Jalonda Smith became involved with the Falkville (Ala.) Elementary School RIF Program when her best friend asked her to volunteer in 2002. She fell in love with the idea of putting new books in every child’s home, and in 2005 became the RIF Coordinator for Falkville.

Smith’s volunteer work includes helping with art in the classrooms, science labs, fundraisers, and Read-A-Thons; teaching Sunday school; creating and printing bulletins at church; directing Bible school; and making Christmas book ornaments in the library. When asked why she does so much volunteer work, she responds, “It’s for the kids!”

Happy Reading all summer long, visit Read for Change and log minutes now!

Carol

Twitter: @RascofromRIF

Filed under: Children's Books, RIF Volunteers, United We Serve

Tags: Alabama, Falkville, Jalonda Smith, Read for Change, Reading Is Fundamental, RIF, United We Serve