This is my official announcement post for the Blog-a-Thon 2013.
You can visit the fundraising page and donate to the Fight for the Right to Read HERE.
You can visit the fundraising page and donate to the Fight for the Right to Read HERE.
THE SKINNY ON A BLOG-A-THON
On Saturday, August 3, 2013 at 7:30 AM CST, I will be participating in a blog-a-thon where I will
be blogging for 24 hours, posting every thirty minutes, all in the name of charity. I will be fundraising for Reading is Fundamental and their mission to motivate young children to
read by working with children, their parents, and community members to
make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
WHY FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO READ?
Children's literacy is something that I hold very close to my heart. I was so lucky to have a family that encouraged me to read and provided me with all the resources possible to become a strong reader and fuel my love for books from a very young age. Because of this, I have not only read over 35,000 pages of books in the past two years alone, I have started a book blog, and began writing my first novel. All of this was made possible because of the resources I was given early on.Sadly, this is not the case for all children, even today. Thirty-three percent of 4th grade public school students are at or below the “Basic” level on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading tests. Twenty-six percent of 8th grade public school students performed at or below the “Basic” level on the NAEP reading test. What's worse is that the number of high school seniors who read at or above “Proficient” has been declining since 1992, according to the NAEP reading test.
It's not just test scores that are important. Children of all ages need year-round access to books and increased reading motivation, because this is just not the case in every city in the United States. Parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do and about two-thirds of the 9th grade achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.
And families play a huge role in children's literacy. They say family dinner is important, and I believe that, but so is family reading as well. Less than half of families read to their kindergarten-age children on a daily basis. It's a fact children are sponges. When you read to them, you're opening up a world of opportunity far more vast than just reading skills.
Reading is Fundamental
not only provides the resources for children to give them the
confidence to become a reader, they aid the families and communities
around the United States in how to encourage children's literacy to
floursih.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO DONATE(AND WIN)
By donating to Reading is Fundamental, you will be providing free books to the nation’s most needy children, motivating children to read for fun, and encouraging parents and community members to become involved in children’s literacy. But as as giant thank you and maybe some incentive, you can be eligible to win prizes, donated by some amazing sponsors(and even some prizes from me, too!). For every $5 you donate, your name will be entered to win. So donate $10, you're name will go in twice, etc! I will be using random.org to select the winners and I will be added and announcing prizes as they roll in on the blog!
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