Kentucky Humanities, in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities, will bring an award-winning family literacy program to Lynn Camp Elementary beginning March 19th.
Prime Time Family Reading Time will meet Tuesdays from March 19 to April 30 (with the exception of April 2nd), at Lynn Camp Elementary School.The program is free and includes meals, door prizes, and educational childcare for younger siblings.
“I am so pleased to announce that Lynn Camp Elementary has been selected as a site to host the Primetime reading program, I believe that it will help connect our students and families to reading on a whole new level,” said William Olmstead, family engagement specialist through Berea College Partners for Education.
“We will be partnering with Dr. Debbie Felts and Mrs. Judy Smith from Eastern Kentucky University to fill the roles of storyteller and Scholar. There will be dinner provided for the families who attend our program will start at 5:00 and end at 7:00 pm,” said Olmstead.
Prime Time Family Reading Time helps families bond around the act of reading and talking about books. In each of the weekly sessions, a discussion leader and storyteller lead programs that demonstrate effective reading techniques. The books introduced to children ages 6 to 10 and their parents explore timeless issues of humanity – fairness, greed, courage, individuality, trickery and determination – while helping them understand the dynamics of making life choices. The program is free and includes meals, door prizes, and educational childcare for younger siblings.
“Prime Time is an important program of Kentucky Humanities,” Goodman said. “The reading program bonds families around the act of reading and seeks to transform them into life-long readers and regular visitors to Kentucky’s libraries. We have been sponsoring Prime Time since 2004, and have hosted 240 Prime Time programs in 85 Kentucky counties in 15 years.”
Prime Time Family Reading Time has won awards from the Public Library Association and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities created the program in 1995. Its studies showed that children who went through Prime Time increased their reading time by 80 percent and doubled their trips to the library. The program also benefited their parents, who improved their parenting skills and, in 29 percent of the cases studied, their employment status.
“Please feel free to contact me at 859-200-6184 or William_olmstead@berea.edu if you have any question or would like to attend,” said Olmstead.