Siesta Kiwanis Club nurtures early reading

Founded in 2021 in the wake of the pandemic, Read Learn Dream, an early literacy program designed to build home libraries for local preschoolers and boost parental engagement at home in reading with their children, has distributed early 3,800 books to date.

Created and funded by Siesta Key Kiwanis Club in collaboration with the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County, RLD distributes one book per month for the entire school year to more than 180 4-year-olds attending select Sarasota city pre-schools. 

Read Learn Dream, which serves small, private preschools and preschool classrooms at Sarasota County Schools, offers a holistic approach to nurturing literacy skills. 

Book selection is a joint effort between SKKC and participating preschool teachers. Each book is accompanied by a bilingual list of home activities relating to the book families of any socioeconomic levels can do. 

At the start of every school year, participating students receive a custom Read Learn Dream tote bag filled with alphabet magnets, a dry erase board, colored pencils, sketchbooks and more.

“We believe we’ve created a transformative, one-of-a-kind, book-a-month program for vulnerable preschoolers in our community,” said Kiwanis spokesperson Patty Casey. “Providing an immersive and comprehensive literacy experience is at the heart of Read Learn Dream. There’s no other program quite like it, offering such a diverse and enriching array of resources tailored to our learning readers.”

The SKKC Foundation is currently the principal supporter of Read Learn Dream Sarasota. Other funding sources include the Sarasota County Community Foundation’s Giving Challenge, grants from the Florida Kiwanis Foundation, the Wil and Rachel Blechman Foundation.