Early Childhood Literacy

General Overview

• Strengthen language and literacy instruction in pre-kindergarten programs
• Use evidence-based, intentional curricula
• Provide resources for literacy-rich classroom environments
• Expand accessibility to pre-kindergarten programs for all low-income students
• Expand partnership between school districts and public and private partners
• Expand partnerships between school districts and public and private partners
• Provide comprehensive professional development for early childhood educators about early literacy and social-emotional development

Information taken from the South Carolina Reading Plan, 2015.

Grade Level Data

• SC Grade Level Snapshot

Developmental Milestones

• Reading, writing, and communication continuums demonstrating approximate expected milestones for readers (BCH)
• "Portrait" of readers and writers by age (BCH)
• Key benchmark books by level
• Tips for families on how to foster literacy, by age (BCH)

Grade Level Programs

• Grade Level Programs
  Extracted from the Promising Practices Guide, which provides programs and best practices for different demographics of library programs around the state

Potential Partners

• Programs that use partners for grade level reading highlighted - examples include police, doctors, hospitals, churches, and schools

Grant Opportunities

• South Carolina State Library: A great resource for local and state grant research.
• American Library Association: ALA not gives grants of its own, but it also links to federal grants, including Gates, IMLS, National Endowment for Humanities, OCLC, and more.
• Grants.gov: A centralized location to find and apply for federal funding opportunities. The system houses information on over 1,000 grant programs and vets applications for 26 federal grant-making agencies.
• Scholastic Grants: A frequently updated listing of public and private library grants that support library programs and initiatives that help young people.
• K-12 Grants: Financial awards available for U.S. schools, continuously updated by THEJournal.com.
• Finding the Funds: Renaissance Learning provides valuable advice on writing grants for educational initiatives, plus a comprehensive list of funding opportunities.
• LibraryWorks: A variety of time-sensitive and ongoing grant opportunities for libraries.
• IMLS Services: The Institute of Museum and Library Services offers a searchable database of grants available for libraries across the United States.