Shared Reading Program

More than 50% of the children entering kindergarten in Cincinnati Public Schools do not have the fundamental reading skills necessary to succeed academically. Research has shown that understanding and using oral language play a key role in a young child's literacy development and school success.


With this in mind, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County joined with United Way of Greater Cincinnati and Success By 6® to develop a 1½-hour Shared Reading presentation that teaches the dialogic reading method. This simple method of encouraging young children to talk about what they see in picture books develops preliteracy skills and has shown dramatic increases in children's vocabulary development. Scientific research indicates that children who have been read to using dialogic reading are substantially ahead on tests of language development and vocabulary growth as compared to children who have only been read to in traditional ways. Early vocabulary size is strongly associated with reading ability and school progress: A child's vocabulary by age 5 is a major predictor of reading achievement by age 7.


FamiliesFORWARD offers sessions in which a librarian presents a Shared Reading Program to about 15 parents of children ages 1-5. The free program is available at Bond Hill Academy, Carson School and Hays-Porter School. Each of these schools is a pre-kindergarten site for Cincinnati Public Schools for children starting at age 3. Each family attending receives a bag of books worth $30.