Ready To Learn
Ready To Learn (RTL) is a PBS ongoing contribution to the fulfillment of our nation's foremost educational goal - making sure all children begin school ready to learn. The goals for WTVI's Ready to Learn Service are:
- For parents to recognize and appreciate their role as their children's first and primary teacher
- For children to have fun while developing an enthusiasm and love for learning -- by watching educational children's programs
-
RTL provides free community workshops, children's books, curriculum materials and resources for area parents,
teachers and day care providers. The workshops are
designed to train adults to teach children the basic skills that will help them enter school ready to learn and succeed throughout life. School readiness skills
addressed during the
workshops include:
- physical/motor
- critical thinking/problem solving
- cognitive, social, emotional
- language/literacy
- cultural/social diversity
The Food Lion Charitable Foundation awarded the station a $5,000 grant to help expand the RTL program to better serve the ever growing Hispanic community. The funds will be used
to purchase
children's books and educational materials in both English and Spanish. Food Lion volunteers will assist with the delivery of educational workshops and serve as storytellers.
Beverly Dorn-Steele, WTVI director of
education and
outreach services, accepts
a $5,000 check from
Food Lion store manager
Antwan Wesley
.
WTVI's award-winning RTL Service currently serves 16,005 at-risk children in 510 sites located geographically throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The sites include day cares, child development centers, churches, Head Start, Even Start, Title One, preschools, after schools, Greater Charlotte Family Home Daycare Association, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Homebound Program, an AIDS-support community, Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, Charlotte Housing Authority Resource Centers, women's homeless shelters, group homes, YWCA and YMCA after school programs, bi-lingual preschools, Mecklenburg County "Fathers Read" program, Mecklenburg County Family Court Program and the NC Cooperative Extension "Families First" program.
The RTL service offers:
- A daily line-up of children's programs, especially designed to meet the needs of preschool and school-age children
- Educational messages between programs that encourage the development of basic learning skills - task completion, negotiation, experimentation and cooperation - skills that become the foundation for learning
- Supplementary educational materials from children and adults (curriculum/teacher's guides)
- A strong literacy component - including PTV Families, a free magazine with activities for parents, caregivers and kids to do together, including details on resource information
- Free books distributed monthly from first book, a non-profit organization that donates books to at-risk children, families and day cares
- Station-sponsored training sessions and approved accredited workshops for families, teachers and caregivers. The workshops give participants an explanation of the child development philosophy that is woven into PBS children's programs and how-to instructions for parents and caregivers in using the power of television effectively.
- Training and educational services for parents that reinforce concepts presented on PBS children's programs. Free childcare and babysitting services are also provided. Portions of the workshop focus on parents and children "viewing and doing" positive TV.
- A research component developed by the Child and Family Development Program in the College of Education and Allied Professions at UNCC that demonstrated the change in television viewing habits for parents and the exhibition of pro social behaviors in children. Kids were also observed thinking, feeling and doing; the three fundamentals of development. A complete evaluation is available upon request.
For more information contact:
Beverly Dorn-Steele
704-371-8840
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