1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Update

We’ve had a 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program for about two years now.  I created most of our information with great tips and tricks for parents/caregivers to use in their daily lives to encourage early literacy skills.  Our original log had 10 different log-in papers (one for each 100 books) with different tips, parent info, and more.  Parents were required to write the title of every book they read to their child on the log.  After hearing a number of comments about how so many parents were too busy to record their books or they forgot to write down the titles of the books, we began looking at alternative methods for recording the books.  We came up with a star chart.  Each new log for 100 books is the same paper, the front has 50 stars and the back has 50 stars – large enough for toddlers and preschoolers to color in and small enough to cut down on the amount of paper we use for the program.  I’m hoping this helps parents by making it an easier program to do.
We didn’t want to lose the tips though, so we created three different tri-fold brochures – infants, toddlers, and preschool.  Each brochure explains the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program and then offers concrete examples parents can do at home to use early literacy skills with their children.  We’re going to unveil the new program this fall with the new updates and hope for the best.  At this point, parents who would like to keep a log of book titles can do so by opting-in to a reading history that can be added to their library card.  I hope this compensates for the parents who like having the books listed.