The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

The home is the child's first school, the parent is the child's first teacher, and reading is the child's first subject. Parents who lack basic literacy skills cannot experience the pleasure of reading a story to their children. The children, in turn, will not reap the educational benefits of being read to. And according to the experts, reading to children early and often is the single most important thing parents can do to prepare them to start school ready to learn. If no one intervenes, this pattern is repeated in each new generation.

According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, millions of the adults in our nation lack important literacy skills. This lack not only affects the quality of their lives and limits their participation in our society, but can also seriously limit the development of their children's literacy skills.

Family literacy programs designed to break this intergenerational cycle have emerged in an increasing number of communities across the country. These programs, which include literacy and parenting instruction for adults, prereading activities for children, and time for parents to use their newly acquired skills with their children, are making a real impact on our nation's critical literacy problems.

Now more than ever, literacy is at the heart of America's future, and the family is at the heart of literacy.

For more information, contact:

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

1112 16th Street, N.W.

Suite 340

Washington, DC 20036

Telephone: (202) 955-6183

Facsimile: (202) 955-8084