E3: Elevate Early Education

Every child should have quality books in their home to read. Sadly, over 300,000 kids live in book deserts. This #GivingTuesday, put more books in the hands of children and give the gift of reading. Make a gift today: https://brnw.ch/21wY0CL

The Northern Virginia Imagination Library is a Local Program Partner of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. They are raising local funds and looking for volunteers to make sure every child has the joy of reading and books in their home. Help put more books in the hands of kids in Alexandria at: https://brnw.ch/21wXZfo

Virginia has a reading crisis. Too many of our children are sitting in classrooms struggling to read. Virginia must build capacity, implement and invest in the Virginia Literacy Act and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, year after year as other states have done. The early years are a critical time in language and literacy development. Our children,familiies, teachers and schools need robust public-private investment to solve this problem. It’s time to make literacy a TOP priority in Virginia. Read more in this op-ed from E3 President Lisa Howard: https://lnkd.in/eiCidUWD

"Books open doors—but for many young children across Virginia, those doors remain closed due to a shortage of books at home. Elevate Early Education (E3), in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, is working to change that by bringing free, high-quality books to families every month, starting at birth. Amazon’s support is helping expand this effort in “book deserts” like Arlington, Roanoke, Portsmouth, and Alexandria—communities where access to books has been limited. By helping children build their first home libraries, this initiative is laying the foundation for a lifelong love of reading and learning." - Amazon Community Impact Report 2025 We are grateful to have partners who share our vision for helping every child build a strong foundation for reading. Amazon's support strengthens our work to eliminate book deserts through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Learn more about how Amazon is giving back to the community today: https://brnw.ch/21wXRfx

How Do Our Children Learn to Read? Our schools are implementing the Virginia Literacy Act and aligning their practices with science-based reading research on how to help children become proficient readers. There is a formula known as the Simple View of Reading to help children become skilled readers: 1. D for DECODE- Students must learn to decode the words on a page, understand the sounds letters make and blend those sounds to make words. 2. L is for LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION- Students need to have skills and an understanding of language structures and words they decode. This helps them develop vocabulary and background knowledge. 3. RC is for READING COMPREHENSION- Once students can decode and have language comprehension with some fluency, they are well on their way to becoming proficient readers. The D + LC + Reading Comprehension. Learn more about the Virginia Literacy Act today: https://brnw.ch/21wXODG

Calling all Friends fans! These children’s books are part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and they’re perfect for sharing cozy storytime moments at home. Reading together builds early literacy skills and lifelong memories. Discover how reading helps every child thrive: https://brnw.ch/21wXDET