The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is seeking organizations that want to strengthen family bonds while promoting early literacy skills to host a Prime Time family engagement and reading program in the fall.
Organizations interested in hosting these programs can apply through April 15 at www.primetimefamily.org. Eligible organizations include schools, libraries, museums, churches, government entities, and other community-based agencies located anywhere in Louisiana that possess a valid EIN number.
Prime Time programs start with a shared meal, and then a storyteller reads families an award-winning children’s book. Following the reading, families are engaged in discussion around the themes found in the book using open-ended questions.
Prime Time programs are free for the organizations that host them and for the families who attend. They can choose to host either Prime Time Family Reading, for ages 6-10, or Prime Time Preschool Reading, for ages 3-5. Organizations whose applications are approved will host the 90-minute sessions once a week for six weeks, according to a news release.
Each partner site will receive a $1,000 site support stipend, stipends for team members, and a set of the children’s books used during the program.
Participating families also keep all books for their personal home libraries.
“Our current host sites include churches, community nonprofits, libraries, schools — even a sheriff’s office,” said Sarah Withers, LEH vice president of education programs. “The common thread is a desire to create stronger families in their community and help those families lay the foundation for a love of reading that will carry them through their child’s school years and beyond.”
For information about Prime Time reading programs, visit www.primetimefamily.org or email primetime@leh.org.