Motheread Program

It’s Graduation day! Fourteen young women – new mothers – will receive their certificate for completing Motheread, a Pima County Public Library GED-training program that is held all over Tucson, this time in Las Vistas neighborhood.

Motheread is designed, at this site, to support young mothers, many who have come from difficult situations, strengthen their literacy skills and confidence. Motheread groups are small and can become very close-knit, as new mothers support each other through a curriculum of learning and parental growth.

“By reading a book out loud in a group setting, the parents discuss viewpoints at how they perceive the book and how real life and reality connect,” said Motheread instructor Frederica Leonardo-Torres after the graduation. “The mothers also look at how they can interpret life skills for their child.” Leonardo-Torres coordinates and leads the Motheread/Fatheread program and is also a certified teacher in the South Tucson Library’s Youth Outreach Program.

Motheread is not only for mothers to attend, it is for families as well. One of the goals is for parents to be able to take what they learn so that they can educate their families and provide a foundation of literacy to support all future learning. Fifteen children were reached through their mothers attending this series.

Students in the Motheread Program are welcomed into a positive environment that allows them to feel comfortable and to share their experiences in a non-threatening setting. Frederica and Ella Gomez, Outreach Librarian who teaches for the Joel Valdez Library’s Youth Outreach Program, are positive role models who not only educate the parents on life skills for their children, but life skills for themselves.

During the book discussion, a student raised her hand and shared her connection to the book through her own life scenarios and how these books have taught her how to handle different situations she has faced.

“The Motheread curriculum is based on books that identify certain strengths even with any dysfunction that the family unit may be experiencing,” said Leonardo-Torres. “A collective writing, which supports the GED essays, helps these women express themselves on paper as well as in front of their peers in the class.”

Ella Gomez, who is a team leader with Leonardo-Torres, also promotes literacy in Tucson through the Pima County Main Library as part of the Youth Outreach Program.

Gomez says parents who have been through her class will tell her that she was the person who gave them their first book. “It is so important that they are given the books so that they have something to reflect on, Gomez said. “We are encouraging them to read to their child, but if they have never been read to, or do not have the materials to read to their child, then helping them create a library will get them started. Literacy is more than just acceptance, what you do know makes you stronger.”

During each session of the program the students will each be given a book, and at the end of the program the students receive all of their writings so they can start their own library.

To learn more about bringing the Motheread program to your community, please contact Federica Leonardo-Torres at 520-594-5418.

Tucson Teacher-Consultants Help Students Gear Up for College - National Writing Project

Tucson Teacher-Consultants Help Students Gear Up for College - National Writing Project

Family Read Aloud Night!

Pizza, books, dancing, singing and a guest appearance, all in one night celebrating reading and families at the most recent Family Read Aloud Night. Family Read Aloud Nights, a component of Read To Me, Arizona!, are held once a month throughout Tucson in schools and libraries and at community centers.

Read To Me, Arizona! is a public information project led and administered by Make Way for Books in collaboration with the Pima County Public Library, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, and Reach Out and Read Southern Arizona.

“We especially work in areas where the resources may not be as available to families,” said Executive Director of Make Way for Books, Mary Jan Bancroft.

The goal of the free Family Read Aloud Nights is to promote early literacy through book skits and other fun activities that get the families engaged and excited about reading. Not only do children and their families participate in activities, but also they receive a literacy bag with their very own new books and reading activities to go along with the books that were read that evening. Plus, families get to enjoy meeting new friends during a pizza dinner.

“It is a free event for families to celebrate books and reading for young children,” Dr. Bancroft explained. “We model reading aloud and give tips throughout the evening on activities that parents can do with their children while reading a book; and, we explain why reading aloud is so important.”

This event is bilingual; the books are read in both English and Spanish. Each book has a different activity, and everyone gets to warm up to the “Hokie Pokie!”

Cragin Elementary in central Tucson hosted Family Read Aloud Night on February 16 for about 85 people. The first book read aloud, “The Doorbell Rang,” engaged the children as they said aloud a recurring sentence in the story, answered questions about the book, and even did a counting activity associated the book.

A very famous character, Curious George, visited with the families as the evening came to a close. Curious George is gearing up for the next Family Read Aloud Night and hopes to see your family there! For information on the next Family Read Aloud Night, please visit the Read to Me, Arizona! website, readtomearizona.org.

Make Way for Books is celebrating its 12th year of promoting literacy for children birth through five years old. The organization’s biggest event is the annual Story Town Family Literacy Festival, which takes place in November downtown at the Pima County Public Library.