Situation Summary
Reading skills constitute a pivotal part of basic human activities that predetermine cognitive development in children. Elementary school is a critical time when such skills are most actively acquired. However, minors often fail to devote enough effort and time to reading due to the increasing technological advancement rate and gadget use. The proposed project is designed to improve elementary school children’s reading habits, encourage their reading practices both at home and in school, and increase the average score by 20%.
The Mission Statement
The proposed project’s mission is to implement a series of interventions within a one-year-long program for cultivating reading habits and practicing reading skills in elementary school students. As the project’s outcome, the participants will develop solid reading skills, develop a habit of regular reading, and obtain membership in the library and the skills to use it. The parents will receive knowledge on how to encourage children to read and pursue their success.
The Goal/Purpose
The project aims at improving the overall level of reading skills development in elementary school children in the community by achieving such objectives as:
- 20% increase in the average reading grade among the participating group;
- Increased speed of reading;
- Improved vocabulary;
- More frequent leisure reading;
- Library membership;
- A higher level of parents’ involvement in children’s reading practices;
- Better academic performance is anticipated.
Listed Action Items
The interventions planned to implement the project’s mission, and objectives include:
- Implementing instruction meetings and training for volunteers at the pre-program stage;
- Renting a facility that would provide a separate space for group meetings and individual sessions;
- Promoting the project and enrolling the participants (the capacity is up to 100 children);
- Conducting a pre-program reading testing for further comparison with the project outcomes;
- Initiating weekly reading groups after classes guided by volunteers from students majoring in pedagogics;
- Organizing weekly individual meetings with students who demonstrate the features of struggling in group readings;
- Implementing lectures and practical classes with parents to teach them reading guidance for home reading;
- Organizing biweekly visits to the local library to facilitate access to books and reading habits;
- Assess the outcomes after one year.
Budget
The budget of the proposed project constitutes $24,000 ($2,000 per month for a 12 month period). Since the volunteers will be largely involved in the program implementation, most part of the budget will be spent on materials (books, technical supplies, facilities) and travel to the library.
Methods of Getting the Community Involved
Since the project is designed for elementary school children, who are aged 5-10 years, the methods of attracting the target audience are two-fold. Firstly, colorful posters and child-adapted oral announcements will be designed to provoke interest in children directly. Secondly, flyers with the description, mission statement, and the importance of the development of reading skills will be designed for and distributed among parents to encourage their children’s participation.
Assessing the Success after One Year
Several methods are designed to assess the outcomes of the project after one year. Firstly, monthly success tracking will be recorded for each participant to review the progress throughout the year. Secondly, after the program, a reading test will be initiated to evaluate the quality of reading skills by conventional grading means. The results will be compared to those obtained before the program started. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires will be initiated with both children and parents to evaluate the frequency of reading and the perceived outcomes of the project.