Prepare your child for school through '1000 Books Before Kindergarten' program

Want to help your child get ahead before starting school? One way to work toward that goal is by participating in the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program at the Atlantic City Free Public Library.

The mission of 1000 Books Before Kindergarten is to promote reading to newborns, infants, and toddlers, to encourage parent and child bonding through reading, and to prepare your child for a lifetime of reading.

Research shows that reading books and sharing stories with your child is one of the best ways to help them enter school with the language skills they need to be ready to learn and grow.

Here’s how to participate:

• Pick up your Reading Log at the Library or download the free 1000 Books Before Kindergarten app
• Write down all of the books that your child reads or has read to them. Remember to include stories that your child hears at library story times, in preschool/daycare, etc. Any and all books and stories count — even repeat readings of the same book!
• When you’ve logged 25 books, bring the completed log back to the library, pick up a prize and get the next Reading Log.
• At each 100 book milestone we’ll recognize your child with a picture on our “Wall of Fame.”
• If you read four books a week, your child will have read 1,000 books in 5 years!

Please visit library’s Youth Services Department or call (609) 345-2269, ext. 3050, for more information.