Leer en Familia
Family Reading - Colombia
Since 2003, Colombian children between 0 and 6 years, most of them from low income families, have had opportunities to access and use reading materials at home. To achieve this, Fundalectura works with the support of cultural, educative, health and social protection institutions to run the Leer en Familia (Family Reading) programme.
The programme is carried out through five projects:
- Babies can Read: babies from four cities receive a bag with books at their birth or at 8 months during a medical check. Fundalectura produces reading materials to parents and buys books for babies to make up this bag, which sells at low prices to private and public organisations with health and library services. These organisations deliver bags to the families for free and incorporate families to their libraries through workshops on how and what to read with babies. Around 3,500 babies per year have received the bag.
- Timely Time to Read: collections of books are purchased by a public institution from Bogota, the Colombian capital, and located in kindergartens for children aged 0-6 from low-income families. Around 26,500 kids and their parents shared these books at home in the first two months of 2008.
- Family Reading at the public library: parents and carers are guided on how to read with children and create a positive reading atmosphere at home. Around 6,000 families per year participate in this project.
- Family Reading at Pre-school: reading sessions where schools welcome families. As a complement to academic activities, this is a special time where the central theme is to share affection through books and talk about them.
- Family Reading at Home: a media campaign to create a receptive attitude towards reading with babies.
