1,000 Things Before Kindergarten
A School Readiness Project
Why 1,000 things?
Reading, writing, singing, playing and talking with your child helps young brains develop like little muscles, getting bigger and stronger the more you and your family interact with your child. We have created a challenge for you and your family based upon the five basic pillars of parenting. The Basics are five fun, simple, and powerful ways to help all our children aged 0-5 grow to be happy and smart.
Participants earn a free book to keep at every 100 books read or activities completed.
How does it work?
When does this challenge begin and end? This is an ongoing challenge that begins October 5, 2020.
Who can participate? Children ages 0-5
What do participants need to do? Participants need to spend time together every day reading and doing activities (“things”). They can log individual books and/or the activities we have suggested under the activity badges section.
Log individual books and/or the activities we have suggested for you under the activity badges section.
For every book read and every activity completed you will earn 1 point.
Earn 50 points to get your Cardinal badge. Keep going.
Continue logging more books and “things” to earn your 100 Things badge.
Keep logging to earn a badge at 200, 300, etc until you have earned all of your badges.
How can we participate?
If you created an account for the Summer Reading Challenge, log into your existing Beanstack account. If you have not created an account, do so at botetourtva.beanstack.org or on the Beanstack App.
What if we don’t have a computer, internet access or an email account? Yes, we can create an account for you, but won’t ever be able to access this account yourself. Call any Botetourt County library branch to find out how to receive your reading log.
Can a grandparent or caregiver sign their children/grandchildren up? Yes, as long as the child is between the ages of 0-5. We highly encourage other family members to help a child reach the 1000 point goal. (*They need to make sure a child has not already signed up with another family member).
FAQ
Can a participant read the same book every day? Yes. Of course we highly encourage participants to branch out and expand their child’s vocabulary through multiple books as well.
Can participants do the same activities every day? Yes. The activities are repeatable. We highly encourage parents to repeat activities with their child such as hugging, singing, counting.
“The Basics”
DaybyDayVA.org , a day by day web calendar of suggested activities and books
www.kidsliteracy.org , a similar site published by our partner, the Soho Center.
The book prizes were donated by the Kiwanis of Botetourt County. Other associated costs are funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library of Virginia.
