Bring Reading & Rhythm to Your School!
| ADDRESSING A READING CRISIS OF ALARMING PROPORTIONS The inability to read well profoundly harms a child's ability to succeed in school and in life. Struggling readers lose self-esteem and motivation to learn, and cannot keep up in their other subjects, which require basic reading skills. Students with low literacy are at high risk of failing to graduate high school, being unemployed or limited to low-paying jobs, living in poverty, and being convicted of a crime. Addressing the nation's reading crisis is an economic necessity for all, because the U.S. economy demands higher literacy levels today than every before. Despite many teachers' best efforts, millions of children continue to lag behind in school because of their poor reading skills. American students are part of a reading crisis of alarming proportions, and the students in California and Los Angeles are scoring particularly low. Nationally, about one third of America's public school students have not mastered even the most basic reading skills, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In 2006 tests, California students scored 3rd worst in the nation, with 51-64% of children grades 2-11 scoring below grade level. In LA County, 56-68% of the 1.3 million students performed below grade level. (Source: California Dept. of Education, 2007) The Reading and Rhythm program is uniquely positioned to tackle this crisis by addressing key barriers to reading success: 1) it improves reading fluency and comprehension 2) gives kids the self-confidence an motivation to read 3) engages them in socio-culturally sensitive, positive learning interactions, and 4) enables them to better focus attention on reading tasks by mediating environmental stressors associated with living in inner-city or impoverished neighborhoods. |
SUPPORT THE SUCCESS BY CONTRIBUTING NOW  Steven's successful Reading and Rhythm program incorporates strategies for improving students' reading fluency and comprehension that include: > Guided Oral Reading Experiences > Comprehension Monitoring > Summarizing > Individualization > Positive Relationships Your support can help bring these successful, replicable techniques into more schools in California and nationwide. Two basic programs that you can contribute to now are: Reading and Rhythm Program $1,200 (Twelve Sessions) Six week program held twice a week. Can be held after-school or as a pull-out (students participate during school day). DFYL facilitator uses rhythm to improve students reading skills, fluency, comprehension and attention. Teacher Training $7520 (Total for Entire Program) In this training session, a DFYL facilitator trains a group of teachers to use the Reading and Rhythm program in their classroom. Its a one-week training workshop that consists of 2 two-and-a-half-hour sessions for up to 10 teachers. Directly following these sessions are thirty-minute in-class follow-ups for five days with each teacher to help them integrate the program into their daily teaching practice. Then, there are follow-up sessions one month after the initial training, and then quarterly thereafter for two years. Teachers receive certification at the conclusion of the program. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, Drumming For Your Life (DFYL) relies heavily on gifts and donations from individuals, foundations and corporations to make possible the enriching rhythm and drumming programs it conducts in K-12 schools, juvenile justice centers, drug rehabilitation and cancer centers throughout California and other parts of the country. Go to www.dfyl.org to learn more and get involved today! |
Simple Things You Can Do Today
> Sponsor a School Near You!
Steven will work with you to bring the program to your favorite school. > Make a Donation to the Overall Program Every size donation goes towards getting the program into more schools. > Train to be a Facilitator If you are a teacher, interested parent or a percussionist, you can learn how to personally work with kids who can benefit from this program or help train more teachers who will reach even more communities. > Communicate Your Interest Write letters to your school board, local government officials or local papers about this program and how you'd like to see it in more schools. Or, go to your school district and help set up a presentation -- Steven's team will come and personally demonstrate the Reading and Rhythm method to faculty, administration and board members. > Help DFYL Expand If you have strong marketing, PR or promotion skills, DFYL can use your talents to help bring their programs to more schools. Also needed: A talented grant writer! > Support the Rhythm of Learning Charter School If you are in the education system, are a grant writer, or are in the real estate business in Los Angeles, you might be able to help forward Steven's plans for his Charter School. CALL 310-453-2348 for more information on any of the above, or GO TO www.dfyl.org to donate now or learn more about the Reading and Rhythm program and other services Steven provides to schools, juvenile justice facilities, cancer patients and addiction rehabilitation centers.
More Resources
Check out these additional book titles on the subject of the power of music and the drum:
Music and the Mind, by Anthony Storv The Healing Power of the Drum, by Robert Friedman The Mozart Effect, by Don Campbell |
