Get Ready to Read! News from the Field
February 2007

This section of the newsletter is dedicated to sharing the comments we receive from people using the screening tool in the field.  The quotes this month all come from our friends in Georgia, some of whom have been using the program for over four years.  Their insights and comments may spark some ideas for how to best use the program in your area or setting.

“Center Directors find that GRTR! enables them to use the screening results to substantiate outcomes when applying for funding and many child care professionals have begun using the skill-building activities to strengthen lesson plans, share information with parents during conferences, and to help select materials to be purchased.” 
--D. Hillman, GRTR! Training Coordinator

“In my experience with Head Start education coordinators and teaching staff, I have found GRTR! useful because it can be clearly linked to the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.  For example, they have indicated that they can see how having this information early in the program year will help better define their literacy goals; the activity cards have strengthened the home-center connection and it has given them concrete planning ideas.” 
--D. Hillman, GRTR! Training Coordinator

“I used GRTR! with my four-year-old son.  It helped me to focus on his trouble areas and the activities were easy to use in their everyday activities and at home. I believe that focusing on certain levels of literacy has really helped him. My son is now in the first grade, reading at a third grade level, and he loves to read.  He is even a reading tutor for other children.” 
--D. McMinn, Associate Area Director of Gwinnett County United Way

“Get Ready to Read! taught me the importance of early literacy screening and the role that literacy plays on everyday life. I am honored to be a trainer for this excellent program.” 
--C. Washington, Training Coordinator, Quality Care for Children

“I think this screening tool is wonderful because of its ease of use.  I have trained everyone from neighborhood parents and caregivers, foster parents, and students enrolled in my Early Childhood Education (ECE) program. I also continuously receive feedback on the great activities the program offers.  The GRTR! screening tool is so wonderful because parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children can easily administer the screening and easily interpret the results. This allows everyone that uses the tool to be intentional in selecting and implementing activities for building the foundation needed to be a strong reader!” 
--M. Abercrombie, Early Childhood Care and Education Instructor, North Metro
Technical College

“GRTR! is the most powerful training I deliver. I love it because it is research-based and filled with good info that stirs people into action and begins to have them develop an understanding of literacy.  I think the GRTR! activities are so powerful because they give people the direction and hands-on delivery system that they don’t always have. The materials are also easy to make-- and are inexpensive.” 
--D. House, Independent Training Consultant

“GRTR! helps prepare families and children in my community to get ready for school. It helps children to become successful in kindergarten and I have even used it with Latino families in a trailer park.  I am so dedicated to GRTR! and have encouraged my daughter to be a GRTR! trainer.” 
--S. Ruiz, SPARK Hub Coordinator, St. Patrick’s Child Development Center