Literacy and health are linked like pieces of a puzzle.

People need to be able to perform basic reading and number skills in order to make and carry our decisions affecting their health. Parents need to be able to understand appointments cards, read prescription labels and medicine amounts to properly and safely care for their child.

Early childhood educators have a special relationship to parents of young children and to the children themselves. They serve as a role model for parents in understanding how to manage their child's behavior and social development, as well as carefully monitoring the child in case of illness or distress.

Reading aloud to the young children in your care helps them develop the early literacy skills they need to succeed in school. By setting the example of daily reading, parents are more apt to continue this when they are alone with the child. If you think a parent might not be a good reader, find a way to let them know that making up a story using the pictures in a book is just as effective.

$500 for baby's future!

The Harold Alfond College Challenge
is a new program that will provide a $500 grant to every Maine baby to start saving for college. This $500 grant is for all Maine babies born on or after January 1, 2009. There is no income limit or additional contributions required.

Like the Libra Foundation (the foundation which funds raising readers), the Harold Alfond Foundation believes in investing in Maine's youngest citizens to ensure both academic success and happy, productive futures.