Pre-K children engage in interactive learning during this year’s SPARK group lessons

On Feb. 7, pre-kindergarten children and their parents will meet at Oxford Elementary School for an interactive group lesson. All are participants in SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids), an in-home tutoring program that seeks to increase early-childhood literacy and school readiness.

Currently, there are 32 families enrolled in SPARK in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, and 30 are expected to attend the lesson. Activities will include reading, writing and singing, and all will encourage group interaction and help the children learn skills to prepare them for kindergarten. In 2011, three group lessons were held, in March, May and November.

Families must be enrolled in SPARK to attend the group lesson. For enrollment information, contact Robin Sullivan at The Literacy Cooperative, 216-776-6182.

As part of its mission to improve lives by enhancing literacy, The Literacy Cooperative is piloting SPARK in Cuyahoga County. SPARK links children and parents in at-risk communities with a parent partner who guides the child through a proven curriculum, and also serves as a resource, helping parents to become their child’s first teachers. Parent partners also help connect children and families to resources they may need. 

The Literacy Cooperative collaborates with Invest in Children and Family Connections to offer the SPARK program in partnership with eight elementary schools in Cuyahoga County. They include Boulevard, Oxford and Noble Elementary schools in the CH-UH school district.

Video testimonials from parents, a teacher, a principal, a sponsor, and a SPARK parent partner are featured on The Literacy Cooperative’s YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/user/literacycooperative.

Katherine Bulava

Katherine Bulava is president of Hatha Communications. The Literacy Cooperative is a client.

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Volume 5, Issue 3, Posted 11:00 AM, 02.07.2012