Children’s Program wins grants for Family Literacy Initiative

The Connecticut College Children's Program has received three grants totaling $6,400 in support of its Family Literacy Initiative for preschool students.

The Children's Program provides a model early childhood curriculum for approximately 90 children of diverse backgrounds and abilities from southeastern Connecticut. The child-centered, play-based study and developmental setting is central to the College's academic curriculum, providing hands-on experience for students as well as opportunities for student and faculty research.

The grants, $3,000 from the Liberty Bank Foundation, $2,400 from the Dime Bank Foundation and $1,000 from the Bodenwein Public Benevolent Foundation, support the Children's Program’s Family Literacy Initiative. The initiative, now in its sixth year, provides the program's 60 preschool students with books to take home and read with their families, as well as the services of a literacy tutor who meets with students and their families both during and after school.

"Building literacy and pre-literacy skills is extremely important for preschoolers," said Kathryn M. O'Connor, director of the Children's Program. "The key to school success is that kids arrive at school ready to learn. This is where it all begins—you have to love to learn."

O'Connor said she is grateful to the local foundations that recognize the importance of these initiatives.

"I think it says a lot about the community. Everyone has an interest in making sure our most vulnerable kids go to school ready to learn."

The Connecticut College Children's Program is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and recognized as an Approved Private Special Education Program by the State of Connecticut Department of Education.