Reading to Kids News

As we head into our 20th month of using Zoom for our reading clubs, we continue to be inspired by the impact of our volunteers and the resilience of the teachers and kids we serve!

One of our volunteers, Jennifer Beitzel, told us this wonderful story after reading on Zoom in September:

We were reading the book Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor with 2nd and 3rd graders at Magnolia elementary.

The book details the unique experiences of certain children, encouraging everyone to embrace diversity. Throughout the book we discover one child is blind, one has severe allergies, one has a stutter, two children have autism, etc.

When we finished reading, one of our students (I'll refer to her as "K") excitedly asked if some of the characters were indeed autistic. I shared my screen on Zoom again and went back to the page about Jordan and Tiana - two characters who both have autism - but experience it differently and use their own ways (like talking about dinosaurs or organizing toys) to interact with the world around them.

K then let us know that she's autistic, and that she loves to talk as well! She was very happy to see someone like her appear in the story.

This prompted some of the other children to ask K what she liked to talk about. At first, K said she likes to talk about everything. Our discussion continued, and we started discovering what each student really enjoys (reading, drawing, playing in the park), with K sharing how much she enjoys spending time with her brother.

Ultimately, we had each student incorporate some of these ideas into drawings or journal entries about what makes them unique and how these traits can be strengths, with K saying that because she loves to talk to people - especially her brother - she can help them feel cared for and loved.

Please help us continue sharing stories one page at a time - include Reading to Kids in your #GivingTuesday!

To donate, just click the above image or this link to our 2021 Annual Fund Drive page, then click the yellow Donate button or mail us a check!

Contributions of any amount make a big difference to the families and schools we serve!

Also, if your workplace matches donations to nonprofits, please share with them your donation, and ask them to consider matching it. In this way you double your donation and share with others your enthusiasm for Reading to Kids!

_______________________________________________