Scholastic FACE to Launch Literacy Events—A Paradigm for Effective Family Involvement

This summer Scholastic FACE will launch the newest edition to its Family and Community Engagement initiative—Scholastic Literacy Events. Literacy Events kits for Pre-K to Grade 5 are Scholastic’s innovative approach to promoting family engagement—an important component in a child’s education—that builds capacity, creates a shared responsibility for educational success, provides tools and the confidence to use them, and lets educational leaders develop strong home, school, and community partnerships.

The first series of Literacy Events—Spotlight on Reading—will release this July. It will include high-interest, grade-appropriate books and learning-rich activities that give caregivers a variety of strategies and tools to nurture and strengthen their children’s love of reading. The second series—Reading & Writing Connection—which is set to release this fall, will help families develop their children’s writing skills.

A key feature of effective family engagement programs are events that provide caregivers with strategies to build and reinforce positive practices at home that will enhance and expand their children’s literacy skills. Being involved in their children’s literacy experiences helps increase caregivers’ awareness of what their children are learning and what they need to learn to become skilled and enthusiastic readers.

Scholastic Literacy Events addresses the rapid shifts in education reform and is aligned with the Department of Education’s Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships. Literacy Events helps schools and communities best engage families in their children’s overall development. The Literacy Events kit provides tools for districts, schools, teachers, community-based organizations, and families to build partnerships by addressing the Building Framework’s “4 C’s” of capacity: Capabilities, Connections, Cognition, and Confidence.

Literacy Events is part of the Scholastic Family and Community Engagement continuum, which supports year-round engagement with Scholastic My Books Summer, mentoring programs Scholastic REAL and Brainstorm, and expanded learning materials such as Literacy Plus. Dr. Karen Mapp, senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, serves as the lead adviser for FACE publishing and professional development. As one of the country’s foremost experts on Family and Community Engagement, she co-authored the Department of Education’s Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.

To learn more about Scholastic’s Family and Community Engagement solutions, visit www.scholastic.com/FACE.