Early Literacy: The Importance of Oral Language

Neuhaus Education Center is proud to partner in Houston ISD’s pilot program, Read Houston Read, which supports its Literacy By 3 movement. The Literacy By 3 movement aims to have every child reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

By giving a first-grader a half-hour to an hour of time each week throughout the school year, volunteers can become a Read Houston Read mentor, either in person or over the Internet. Depending on which method each volunteer will be trained to:

Share the magic of a book by reading to a child
Engage in fun activities that directly relate to the reading
Listen to a child read as they share a book with you
HISD has identified nearly 300 first-grade classrooms at more than 50 schools, where children are desperately in need of an adult to read to them, to listen to them read, and to reinforce the progress their teachers will start in the classroom through uniform, proven methods. Volunteers and the Houston community will build an important relationship with a student that can make a lasting impact on their self-esteem, ability to learn, and ultimate success. Houston is in a literacy crisis, and it will take everyone – schools, families, community — to help provide this basic skill that can make the difference between lifelong learning and achievement or frustration and failure.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, Neuhaus Education Center created volunteer training videos that provide essential and fundamental knowledge of reading in: Letter Recognition, Phonological Awareness and Oral Language. These videos will give the volunteer an abundance of easily-understood information that will truly make the experience enriching for both the student and volunteer.