Last week, four-year-old Diana and her mother came to the Columbia Grove community room to check out the Read-Aloud program they'd heard about. Diana was far from convinced that this was where she wanted to be and clung tightly to her mother.
A volunteer talked with Diana one-on-one to help ease her transition into the Read-Aloud program before bringing Diana and her mom to where the other kids and volunteers were reading. Diana sat on her mom's lap during the reading, but it wasn't long before she was pointing to things in the book and making her own balloon rocket.
Diana tells about her Read-Aloud experience
At the end of the hour, I checked back with Diana to see if she'd changed her mind about the experience. She was grinning ear-to-ear and was eager to share that she'd be coming back. When asked what her favorite part was, she replied "When they read a book."
We hope all of the children and families that we serve feel the way Diana did about reading. In the past fiscal year, The Reading Connection reached a total of 1,824 children and gave them 12,498 books. The Read-Aloud program, which Diana participated in, reached 495 children in Virginia and DC with the help of more than 200 community volunteers. With your help, volunteering or donating to TRC, we can have an even greater impact each year to come.