Learning Music Early Can Make Your Child a Better Reader!
Learning music in the early years of schooling can help children learn to read. Why? Because music processing and language development share an overlapping network in the brain. In fact, research has found three- and four-year-old children who could keep a steady musical beat were more reading-ready at the age of five than those who couldn’t keep a beat.
Neuroscience studies continue to find a clear relationship between music and language acquisition. And it's not just language acquisition. Musically trained children also have better reading comprehension skills, too. Learn more about this interesting topic
here!
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2019 Begins with a Big Thank YOU!!!
To all RIF of NOVA donors and supporters who gave generously during our holiday campaign and via our Giving Tuesday Facebook campaign, we
thank you,
thank you, and
thank you! But don't take our word for it. Instead, look at the faces of children with new books of their very own to read, cherish, and love. Together, we are building a community of readers...one book at a time.
If you intended to give but got caught up in the holidays, there is still time! In fact, any time is a good time to support children's literacy in Northern Virginia. Giving details are noted both
here and below, along with a couple of very special thank you acknowledgements for some special donors. Remember, every
$2 = one book for a deserving child!
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Kilby Elementary School's Book Distribution: Gift of Giving
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Kilby Elementary School in Woodbridge held its RIF of NOVA book distribution in December with the theme:
"Gift of Giving." The celebration was based on the book,
"The Quiltmaker's Gift,"
by author Jeff Brumbeau and illustrator Gail De Marcken. When a generous quiltmaker finally agrees to make a quilt for a greedy king -- but only under certain conditions -- she causes him to undergo a change of heart.
After students heard the story, they each colored their own paper quilt sheet. As reported by Kilby's library media assistant Darlene Crocker, "We put them all together and created our own quilts to hang in the hall. (See photo below.) Thank you RIF of NOVA for giving the gift of reading and providing free books to our students!!!"
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The Kilby quilt -- a paper patchwork of creativity and fun!
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Posing with their new books in front of a beautiful cloth quilt, on display for the occasion!
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John Adams ES Hosts a Winter Wonderland!
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John Adams Elementary School in the City of Alexandria hosted its annual RIF of NOVA book distribution December 17-19 with the theme "Winter Wonderland." The week prior to the book distribution, students got into the winter theme by watching the 20-minute movie,
"The Gruffalo's Child" about a little Gruffalo who ignores her father's warnings and tiptoes out into the snow in search of the Big Bad Mouse. Oh-oh! They also read the book,
"Snowflake Bentley" and made snowflakes for display in the media center/library. Wilson Alwyn "Snowflake" Bentley is one of the first known photographers of snowflakes. Who knew?!!!
Heidi Hagerty, new principal of The Early Childhood Center at John Adams, participated in the three-day celebration, along with assistant librarian Diazreen Ford and librarian and RIF of NOVA liaison Emily Godfrey -- who timed the distribution to make sure her students had a book to read during their winter break!
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Oh my! Have I got a book to take home for holiday break? Yesssss! And am I excited? Double yesss!
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RIF of NOVA board member Glenna Orr helps fifth graders pick out a new book.
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A Few More Special Thank You Notes!
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The
Vineyard Foundation...
...has given a sizeable gift to RIF of NOVA. As Bradley Vineyard explained, "I just kept thinking about how much I enjoy reading, and how much my children enjoy reading, and thought maybe this was a way we could make a difference. With these times of intolerance and divisiveness, I kept thinking how we need a little more inclusion and acceptance of different people and ideas. So, I started googling, and that is how I found Reading is Fundamental (of NOVA). I am so excited to see how our donation can help others and maybe make a little impact on our community in a positive way."
We at RIF of NOVA are very grateful for the Vineyard Foundation donation and can't wait to turn it into books for children. When that happens this spring, you can be sure there will be plenty of pictures in an upcoming RIF RAP! To Bradley and Mark Vineyard and family, thank you, thank you!
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A Holiday Party with Fun and a Book Drive, Too!
Arlington residents Kathryn and Jordan White have given RIF of NOVA two boxes of brand new children's books, which they collected from friends at their holiday party. Rather than having guests bring food or drinks to the gathering, each guest was asked to purchase a new children's book to support the couple's annual book drive.
The tradition of collecting books for children dates back to Jordan's student days at Georgetown University, where he participated in book drives for children. Thank you, Kathryn, Jordan, and friends for spreading book love to local RIF schools through your holiday book tradition!
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Bel Air Kids Say Thanks!
Regular RIF RAP readers will remember the donation of over 600 books from "Devon's Library" to RIF of NOVA. The books were collected by Liza and Jason in memory of their son Devon and given to children at Bel Air Elementary School in Woodbridge in December. RIF of NOVA liaison Cari Hammel and ITC Chris Rinker put together this thank you video from the Bel Air students, in which they express their delight about their new literary treasures!
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There are several ways to give books to deserving children...
1) You can give at any time via PayPal on the RIF of NOVA website
www.rifnova.org.
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2) You can send a check to our mailbox: P.O. Box 7012, Arlington, VA 22207-0012.
3) You can register with
smile.amazon.com. Type in Reading Is Fundamental of Northern Virginia, Inc. to select us as the charity you want to support. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to RIF of NOVA.
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Please share the RAP! Forward our newsletter to your friends and anyone interested in providing books to children who need them! Subscribe
here
!
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