Burleigh families get money for reading help

15 Sep 2014 4:22 PMMichael Hart

 

Burleigh families get money for reading help

The youngest children in Burleigh will have more help to learn what they need to succeed at school, with $1,880,000 given to Gold Coast libraries over the next four years as part of the Best Start initiative.

Member for Burleigh Michael Hart MP said the extra money could help every parent, caregiver and young child in the community.

“Best Start will help mums, dads and caregivers to read with their children in a way that lets the children learn,” Mr Hart said.

“Our kids will do better at school if they start with a healthy vocabulary, which is helped along by being read to.”

Mr Hart said the state-wide program, to be delivered through public libraries, would give local families the information, skills and tools they need to help their children develop early language and literacy skills at home.

“The results are clear,” he said.

“Just 10 minutes of reading by a parent each day can give their kids the start in life that they need.

“This program helps parents of very young children know what they need to know to help their kids do well at school.”  

Arts Minister Ian Walker said Best Start had come from four years of practical research and evaluation of family literacy practice in public libraries and was part of the Government’s strong plan to help Queensland kids be the best they can be.

“In the 2012 Australian Early Development Census, Queensland ranked sixth out of the states and territories for overall early language development,” Mr Walker said.

“Research shows that if kids start school behind the eight ball, they think “I can’t learn well”, disengage and don’t achieve as much as they could.

“This is an evidence-based plan that will help Queensland kids learn at least the minimum amount of words in vocabulary by school age, which experts say is a range between 500 and 5,000.

“Some parents need help to be confident readers, others a reminder that story time is an important part in our long and busy days.

“The Best Start program will help our kids and parents be the best they can be.”

[ENDS] 15 September 2014

Media Contact: Burleigh Electorate Office – 5526 6024