Children's and YA Services

Early literacy is the foundation for children’s lifelong learning journey. Research shows that the first few years of life are crucial for brain development, and the experiences young children have with language, books, and storytelling during this time can significantly shape their future academic success. Libraries and librarians can play a vital role in supporting parents and caregivers in helping children learn important early literacy skills.

This curriculum, CT Ready to Read with Sparkler, was created by the CT State Library and Sparkler Learning and builds on the legacy of ECRR, modernizing the program for today’s librarians and families. The program is designed to help librarians lead engaging and purposeful storytime sessions that promote key early literacy skills for parents or caregivers and their young children to experience together. This structured program provides a roadmap for librarians to facilitate interactive, skill-building sessions that not only support young children’s growth but also empower parents and caregivers to become active partners in their children’s early literacy skill development.

Using a “bear themed” curriculum, six core early literacy skills are introduced and reinforced through shared stories, activities, and songs:

• Week 1: Print Awareness – Helping children recognize that print carries meaning, from books to labels to signs in the world around them.
• Week 2: Narrative Skills – Encouraging children to understand and tell stories, fostering the ability to organize and express their thoughts through language.
• Week 3: Phonological Awareness – Strengthening children's ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in spoken language, a key building block for reading.
• Week 4: Letter Knowledge – Introducing children to the alphabet, letter recognition, and the sounds that letters make. 
• Week 5: Vocabulary – Expanding children’s language by introducing new words and helping them make connections between words and their meanings.
• Week 6: Print Motivation — Building children’s interest in print and reading and their persistence with reading, even when it is difficult

CT Ready to Read with Sparkler offers librarians a clear, structured framework to deliver high quality, research-based early literacy programs, while fostering meaningful connections with families in the community. Through these sessions, librarians can help parents and caregivers understand how everyday activities — such as reading together, talking about the world around them, and playing with sounds — are integral to building a child's literacy foundation.

CT Ready to Read with Sparkler Curriculum