When Do Kids Start Learning To Read? It’s Not Kindergarten. (Photo) -05/14/25
Raising Readers Begins at Birth — Seaside Elementary Student Helps Inspire Families, Child Care Providers with Toolkits Featuring Her Artwork
ASTORIA – Mously Mbathie, an eight-year-old from Seaside, was recently selected as the winner of a county-wide art contest. Her submission features her standing among all of her favorite book characters. There’s a bespectacled elephant named Gerald, Raggedy Ann with her bright red hair, Barbie in a pink dress and a vested alligator named Brash.
“They make me feel like they are always with me,” Mously says about her winning submission.
Mously was one of dozens of students who entered a county-wide art contest called “Inspired to Read.”
The contest was part of a wider campaign -- dubbed How to Raise a Reader -- developed by the Northwest Regional Early Learning Hub to promote early literacy. Students were invited to share what they love about reading and what it means to them.
Using the artwork from the contest winners, the hub team developed a toolkit to help parents and child care providers promote early reading skills.
Brain science tells us children start developing literacy skills the moment they’re born and not once they start going to school as some people might think. That means families and child care providers are the ones helping children develop those early skills that will set them up for success once they reach kindergarten.
Following these tips is not complicated or time-consuming, but learning to follow them does take practice.
“We thought it could be so much more powerful to talk about early literacy using children’s own voices,” says Abbey Lutskovsky, who oversees the Northwest Regional Early Learning Hub and rolled out the contest in the fall in partnership with school districts and child care providers. “Integrating their ideas and artwork into the toolkits really brought them to life,” she says.
Abbey and colleagues then teamed up with Oregon’s Department of Human Services to add Little Free Libraries to self-sufficiency offices in Seaside, Astoria, St. Helens and Tillamook. The reading tips and artwork are featured at each little library.
She also staffed a panel to select high-quality books for every age and has co-hosted ribbon-cutting ceremonies with the student artists in St. Helens and Tillamook. The Clatsop County ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. next Wednesday, May 21 at the Department of Human Services office in Seaside.
This weekend, along with NWRESD’s Child Care Resource and Referral team, the staff will start distributing toolkits around the region to an estimated 75 child care providers in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties as part of the annual Child Care Appreciation events.
The Clatsop County Appreciation Event Will Be Held 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Following Location - MEDIA INVITED TO ATTEND
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Captain Robert Gray School (785 Alameda Avenue Astoria OR 97103)
More About the Toolkits
The toolkits include posters, trifold brochures, stickers and social media graphics all based on the student art contest winners. These materials will help teach parents, caregivers and child care providers about how they can start building literacy skills in babies, toddlers and preschoolers. The full toolkit is available at nwresd.org/raise-a-reader. But here’s a recap:
Top Literacy Tips:
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Sing or talk to your child in short, simple phrases — and don’t be afraid to use a higher pitch. Babies love it.
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Cuddle up and read together — any type of book will do, but babies and toddlers love to look at pictures.
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Ask questions as you read aloud to build comprehension.
Other Resources for Parents and Child Care Providers:
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Sign up for mail delivery of books through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
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Visit your local library to check out books or use the Little Free Library locator to find books near you.
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Sign up for Lantern to receive free parenting tips via text.
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Check your child’s progress with a free, online Ages & Stages questionnaire.
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Parenting classes will help you build your skills and confidence and connect with other parents.
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Use research-backed strategies to help your child learn how to problem-solve, share, take turns, sustain friendships and understand and express their emotions.
About the Northwest Regional Early Learning Hub
Young children from birth to 5 are learning and developing at a rapid pace — faster than any other time in their lives. The Northwest Regional Early Learning Hub works to ensure young children and their families in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties have the resources and support to thrive. We are educators, health care providers, community advocates, program providers and businesses who believe we can do more for our communities together than we can on our own.