WineDirect and Worldreader Partner to Keep Children Reading
WineDirect and global nonprofit, Worldreader, are partnering to expand access to digital books during Covid-19 schooling disruptions, ensuring that children can keep reading and learning.
With WineDirect’s support, staff, clients and their families will have access to high-quality children’s books in both English and Spanish. The Spanish collection has been specifically sponsored by WineDirect.
Parents across the US, including in the wine industry, have felt the profound disruptions to schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the late spring, school closures impacted 55.1 million students in 124,000 U.S. schools. 1 Currently, depending on the state and district, schools may be open and holding in-person classes or remain closed and teaching students remotely. However, the situation is so fluid that schools in some districts have opened their buildings to students only to return to remote instruction days later as Coronavirus cases spike. 2
One simple and fun way parents can support their children during these disruptions is to read with them. Consistent reading of 15 minutes per day supports literacy skills development, introduces new subjects, gives children a chance to explore other cultures, and provides bonding opportunities during stressful times. And, reading can help mitigate the learning loss inherent in school disruptions.
But many parents lack extensive libraries at home. At the same time, public and school libraries are closed or have reduced hours due to social distancing measures.
Worldreader has addressed this need by offering books through the BookSmart app, available on the mobile phones or tablets that families already own – no new hardware is required and the app is free to families. BookSmart is optimized for all connection speeds, keeps data costs low, and works on even basic phones and tablets. For families with limited data, books can be downloaded when wifi is available and then saved for offline reading.
Through this partnership, WineDirect is able to support children across the US during these very challenging times. When so much is beyond our control, one thing parents and caregivers can do is read with their children each day.
