This project will help us bring a collection of books featuring special needs characters and themes to children and families across the country. The project will also allow us to deliver parent reading tips and ideas for sharing books with children who have special needs. Books will go into schools and agencies across the country and support families of all abilities to encourage a more inclusive society.
Children of all abilities have the right to participate in a broad range of activities in their communities and society. According a recent position statement from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), quality early childhood inclusion is key for families to feel that their family can be full members of society. Early childhood inclusion is described to have the defining features of access, participation, and support.
This project will bring a special collection of books that focus around characters who have special needs across the spectrum. These stories will allow children of all abilities to see themselves and others in the pages of the books. Each book contains a bookplate with support tips and ideas for sharing books with children who have special needs. Not only will the project help with book sharing, it will also allow children of all abilities understand and appreciate their differences.
Through the initial program launch, close to 1000 families in inclusion programs will receive the RAR Exceptional Diversity Collection materials. Each year RAR provides vital materials and support to over 130,000 US families. By improving the language and literacy skills of children at risk of educational failure and strengthening parent-child relationships and family educational involvement, together we are moving the needle to improve child literacy across the country.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
