A group of pre-schoolers in BMCC’s Early Childhood Center were recently treated to a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle’s award-winning picture book, by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado.
Her audience of four-year-olds was already familiar with the hungry caterpillar, who munches across the book’s colorful pages. “But he was still…” Furtado paused, “HUNGRY!” the children shouted.
The event was co-sponsored by Jumpstart, an early education organization working toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. A large part of that success hinges on early access to books.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is published by Pearson, one of the event sponsors, along with Wal-Mart – which will donate proceeds from the sale of The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Jumpstart – and Redbook magazine, which is running a feature story on early literacy in its October 2009 issue.
BMCC students get a jumpstart on volunteering
Since 1999, over 300 BMCC students have volunteered through Jumpstart.
“BMCC is a staunch supporter of early literacy and the work Jumpstart does to celebrate literacy as a cornerstone of education and upward mobility,” said BMCC President Antonio Pérez.
The volunteers receive special training, and children thrive from the consistent, one-on-one reading time. Often, parents juggle work, family and their own school schedules. By pairing preschoolers with a Jumpstart volunteer who reads to them for an entire semester, youngsters develop as readers in a welcoming environment they look forward to returning to.
Read for the Record, a special event
On October 8, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record event will set out to break the world record as adults read the same book to over one million children across the country.
Furtado, who sang duets with her mother when she was four, and now has a six-year-old daughter, appreciates how a child’s potential is unlocked by time with adults who share their love of storytelling and books.
“I used to read in church in Portuguese,” Furtado said of her childhood in Canada. “My mother would sit with me in the car and make sure I had the words right. She made sure I had books to read around the house.”
Reading: It’s never too early
Children in the BMCC Early Childhood Center took home a limited edition copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which provides tips on extending the story with vocabulary and narrative activities.
“We always have an amazing group of children who clearly enjoy opportunities for literacy and learning,” said Cecilia Scott-Croff, the Center’s Executive Director.
Those opportunities are woven into the children’s activities so naturally, they probably just think they’re having fun. Before Furtado’s reading, they ate lunch, and staff reinforced counting, a concept The Very Hungry Caterpillar touches on.
“Two on each plate,” BMCC Early Childhood Education student Victor Mena instructed, as they helped themselves to chicken fingers. “One piece of paper to everyone,” he told the four-year-old who helped pass out supplies, so they could draw caterpillars and favorite foods.
“It’s all about communication,” said Furtado, later. “It’s something you can start and pass down to the next generation. You can’t wait till they get to school.”
