Smart Start Kiamichi Country (SSKC) helps children get a better start in life. Kiamichi Country program will serve Haskell, Latimer, LeFlore and Pittsburg Counties. This is a grassroots initiative that supports families as they raise children who are safe, healthy, eager to learn and ready to succeed in school.
There are certain projects that are statewide, but since each community is different, everything is tailored to your local area. One of the statewide projects is called “Raising a Reader,” which is designed to get children excited about reading. It encourages parents to read aloud to their children from the time they’re born until at least the age of six. It also encourages frequent visits to the local library.
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SSKC has been funded by a grant awarded to KI BOIS Community Action. Support for this project comes from the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Foundation, Oklahoma Department of Health and Chesapeake Energy Corporation. This project will be part of the Smart Start Oklahoma initiative. This initiative is a public/private partnership.
You can e-mail Sandie at sandie.rutherford@kibois.org. For more resource information, go to www.smartstartok.org. 
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Raising A Reader (RAR) is an early literacy program that engages low-income parents in “book cuddling” with their children from birth to age five. RAR kits are shared with Head Start students, Infant Library programs, and children who are in public and private child care settings. The RAR Mission is to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding and early literacy skills critical for school success by engaging parents in routine daily “book cuddling” with their children.
RAR is a scalable, multicultural, multilingual program that creates a fun, easy way to start families on the path to literacy. RAR’s impact is sustainable over time through strong links to the library including partnerships with children’s Librarians and making connections between families and the local resource that offers books for a lifetime. Each child in the program is given their own bright Blue Library book bag to be used on frequent trips to the Library as a tool to sustain the “read aloud” routine at home.
Click HERE to find out what parents are saying about the Raising A Reader program.
Read For The Record Summary, October 2010. Click HERE.
Parent brochure for Raising A Reader, Click HERE.
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We invite you to be part of a special group of Oklahoma business leaders who have committed to serve as spokespersons for greater investment in building tomorrow's workforce.
You may be aware that development of our human capital, starting with the first three years of life, can bring a return of 10 to 1 for every dollar expended.
For more information, contact Sandie Rutherford. |
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