The document provides information about the Jumpstart Early Literacy Initiative volunteer orientation. It discusses the mission of Jumpstart to prepare children for school success and their model of pairing preschoolers with caring adults. It also describes the history and mission of the Early Literacy Initiative in San Francisco and the typical schedule and tips for volunteers, such as reading with expression and allowing children to lead activities.

1. The Early Literacy Initiative Volunteer Orientation Jumpstartsfeli.blogspot.com

2. Agenda About Us Jumpstart The Early Literacy Initiative Typical Event Schedule Tips for Working with Preschoolers

3. About Us: Jumpstart Mission : We work toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. Model : We bring at-risk preschool children and caring adults together through one-to-one relationships that focus on building literacy in combination with social and emotional readiness. Circle Time during a Jumpstart session in the classroom

4. About Us: The Early Literacy Initiative History: Two years ago, San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth, and their Families approached Jumpstart to lead a new program, the Early Literacy Initiative. Mission: We collaborate with city and community organizations to increase literacy services to children ages 0-5 and their families in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley and BayView Hunter’s Point neighborhoods. Reading with Corduroy at the BayView Library

5. About Us: The Early Literacy Initiative Program: Our services include family workshops, community events, literacy nights, and other special projects. Storybook Productions Summer 2007

6. Typical Event Schedule Sign-in & Nametags Welcome & Overview Set-up Literacy Activities Clean-up Feedback & Sign-out

7. Tips for Working with Children Familiarize yourself with the activity instructions. Guidelines and objectives will be provided. Crouch down so you’re at their eye level, and so you can hear them. Let the child lead the project. If he wants to go off on a tangent, go with the flow and encourage his enthusiasm. This will help develop his initiative and self-confidence. Emphasize the process, not the product. It’s ok if she decides to put the puppet’s nose under the mouth! Ask questions and let the child be creative—this allows children to pursue and develop interests. Be patient. Let kids have emotions. If they get upset or angry with each other (for example when sharing supplies), mediate. Help them learn social and problem-solving skills. Volunteers making puppets with children

8. Tips for Reading to Preschoolers Allow children to hold the book and turn the pages. Use different voices for different characters. Ask open-ended questions about what is happening in the story. For example, “What do you think will happen next?” Make statements about what is happening on a page to prompt discussion about the story. Encourage children to read the story to you; even if they are attending to pictures rather than words, they build language skills by constructing the story themselves. Make reading an enjoyable experience so they will want to do it again!

9. Contact Information If you have any questions or comments, please contact Nicole Sirivansanti at [email_address] or 415.536.5867 ext 124. Thank you for volunteering with us!