Interactive Web Site Builds Online Community of Latino Families Nationwide

“For the millions of Latino parents who are part of the nation’s largest minority population and whose children face a growing educational achievement gap, there is a new online resource available to them located at http://www.leeyseras.net/ to help their young children acquire the skills and knowledge they need to start school ready to learn. Leeyseras.net is the newly redesigned and enriched companion web site for Lee y seras(R) (Read and You Will Be), a national Latino early literacy initiative and curriculum developed by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, in collaboration with the National Council of La Raza, a leading voice for Latino Americans in the United States, and the Verizon Foundation.

The site gives parents and caregivers free access to the Lee y seras curriculum that builds on the multi-faceted, strong, inherent traditions of Latino culture that support literacy and learning — storytelling, poetry, and song — and that emphasizes the role that parents play as their children’s first teachers.

The web site offers downloadables and printables for parents, educators and childcare providers to help build literacy skills. Its colorful and child- friendly templates, educational games and interactive activities get kids learning and having fun. Educators, community leaders, and researchers are featured on the web site’s podcasts and videocasts. The site helps build an online community with visitors posing questions and ideas via the Lee y seras blog. Online chats are scheduled to begin early next year.

Leeyseras.net brings resources and information to Latino parents no matter where they live, whether in a large community in an urban area or in a smaller, emerging Latino community in rural America. “The web site unites communities nationwide in their efforts to promote early literacy,” said Karen Proctor, Scholastic Vice President of Community and Government Affairs. “The site … through podcasts, chat rooms, downloadables … brings research-based curriculum, culturally appropriate tools, and expert voices to anyone, anywhere who is committed to ensuring that Latino children have the support they need to become strong readers and learners.”

“The Lee y seras web site, with its interactive and bilingual features, is invaluable in our efforts, not only to educate people about the initiative and create an online community to address the early literacy issue, but also to spur increased use of technology within the Latino community,” said Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO.

“Improving basic literacy skills is among the Verizon Foundation’s major priorities because of its enormous impact on education, health and economic development,” said Verizon Region President Gale Given. “Online resources such as Lee y seras and the Verizon Literacy Network expand teaching beyond the classroom to give parents and community leaders the tools they need to improve literacy and enhance future opportunities for their children.”

Lee y seras is being implemented by local nonprofit organizations in cities around the country including New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Dallas, Danbury, Connecticut and San Jose, California. The initiative will launch on December 12 in Chicago and in Miami in early 2007.”

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