Before dawn on a recent Thursday morning, I pulled out of my driveway and pointed my car south toward Boscawen, a rural community in central New Hampshire. The purpose of my visit was to kick off of CLiF’s Year of the Book at Boscawen Elementary School (BES).
CLiF team / General / Year of the Book
Each spring, the CLiF team gathers to select recipients for our $25,000 Year of the Book grant during the following academic year. The decision is never easy, but this year’s selection process was especially challenging, with many strong applications from across Vermont and New Hampshire. In the end, we chose to expand the program for … Continued
Family literacy / General / Year of the Book
Some of CLiF’s most impactful programming occurs at our Family Literacy events, where parents and caregivers get to join in the fun alongside their children. Designed to promote positivity around reading and writing, these interactive gatherings typically include a storytelling session with a professional CLiF presenter, a community meal, and a book giveaway, where families … Continued
It’s an exciting time at CLiF, as we recently selected the 12 public elementary schools in Vermont and New Hampshire that will receive our flagship Year of the Book grant during the 2024-2025 school year. This grant provides each school with up to $25,000 in literacy resources, including in-person visits from professional authors and illustrators; … Continued
I recently had the pleasure of witnessing literacy and dance come together at the Integrated Arts Academy (IAA) in Burlington, VT, where students performed dances they choreographed with Rose Bedard as part of a teaching artist residency sponsored by the Vermont Arts Council and CLiF’s Year of the Book grant.
We often tend to think of literacy as the outcome of an instructional practice around reading and writing. But literacy is also a way to communicate and make sense of the world, and music can play an important role in complementing the pedagogy and helping students with their acquisition of skills.
The CLiF Year of the Book grant is a huge deal for schools that are selected. It’s a massive infusion of funds, support, and events designed to help a school build a culture of literacy over the academic year. And, of course, they get lots of books! Students (grades preK-6) each get to take home 10 new, high-quality books that they choose for themselves from a diverse selection.
They say everybody has a story. Research an entire community, and you’re bound to harvest a bushel basket of unforgettable tales.
At the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), our work revolves around inspiring children to feel joy and excitement about reading and writing. Among the ways we accomplish this goal is through our flagship program, CLiF’s Year of the Book, one of our nine literacy programs.
At the Children’s Literacy Foundation, back-to-school season is always a busy, but exciting, time. We are launching new partnerships, building new headquarters, and most importantly, sharing books and stories with kids.
Year of the Book / CLiF Spotlight / Education
Join us for another free virtual event this year, with all the most popular features of our typical in-person conference: training from our presenters, peer-to-peer sharing, updates on CLiF’s research and work, and books! The concepts presented by this talented group will inspire you to try new things, provide ideas that can scale to PK … Continued
On Giving Tuesday, our generous donors helped us raise over $4,000 to support writing workshops in Manchester, NH and Highgate, VT as part of our Year of the Book grant program. One of the goals of the Year of the Book program is to increase enthusiasm for reading and writing and encourage kids to do … Continued
It’s Giving Tuesday, a day to give back to causes you care about. Your donations to CLiF will be matched today (up to $10,000 total)! Double the impact you make on a child’s life. This Giving Tuesday, we’re trying to raise $20,000 to support multi-day writing workshops for low-income, at-risk, and rural kids (12 and … Continued
Writing is an essential skill for children’s success in school and beyond. It helps kids express themselves and process their emotions, develop necessary communication and comprehension skills, and use their imaginations. It can also be a great way to tell family stories and connect to others in their communities. CLiF’s $25,000 Year of the Book … Continued
A few weeks ago, I spent a cold Wednesday morning waking up before the crack of dawn, and driving 45 minutes to Edmunds Elementary School in Burlington, Vermont to spread the opportunity to fall in love with literature and reading through CLiF’s Year of the Book program. It was just under 40˚, and I was … Continued
For my first CLiF event, I went to the Year of the Book kick-off at Braintree Elementary School in Braintree, Vermont. As a smaller school, they have fewer than 100 students, but it was clear to me from the get-go that this didn’t prevent them from instilling a strong love of reading in the kids’ … Continued
CLiF’s Year of the Book program is designed to increase enthusiasm for reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural kids, improve schools’ literacy efforts, increase family engagement in reading and writing, and create a community-wide culture of literacy. Each year, we award the grant to five elementary schools in New Hampshire and five schools … Continued
Year of the Book / CLiF Spotlight
Hard to believe we are almost half way through the school year – 10 schools halfway through their CLiF Year of the Book and for ten more their follow-up momentum year. In the next half of the year, schools will welcome CLiF presenters author/illustrator Jason Chin, author/genealogist Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, author Sandra Neil Wallace, author/illustrator Marty … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.