About the SC Day by Day Project

Libraries are essential to family literacy. In South Carolina, they bridge the gap for those who may not have access to resources. Libraries educate the entire family, providing computer and internet access, materials such as books and music, access to health information to help them lead healthier lives, and interaction with staff that are skilled in programming to engage young children in learning.

In order to assist family literacy efforts across South Carolina, the South Carolina State Library launched a perpetual print activity calendar. The calendar has a monthly theme that encompasses books, songs, activities, health information, and family wellness information. You are looking at the web version: an interactive version which uses multimedia to enhance the content and bring these various components to life. If families can only spend a few minutes together, this calendar will give them something they can use to make sure that this is quality time as well as educational time.

DayByDay is designed to be a tool that families, caregivers, educators and librarians can use at home and in the classroom to further develop early literacy skills that help young children become prepared for school or do better in school. Children will benefit from the opportunity to develop early literacy skills and enjoy positive learning experiences, immersing themselves in print-rich environments which will help them become more successful in school and ultimately lifelong learners. Research shows that a parent who spends more time with a child, conducting many language interactions per hour, helps to increase the child’s vocabulary which can result in better school readiness. Early interactions with children directly affect the way the brain develops and can help to reduce risk. The calendar will open up a new set of opportunities for parents and caregivers to work at home with their children, to come to the library, and expose them to books and educational music. Whether they have a computer in the home or just at the library, parents and children are introduced to a multimedia literacy center through the calendar’s online version which engages a variety of learning styles through color, music and activities.

We feel it is important to help reinforce the positive messages of agencies that also work to better the lives of South Carolinians. We want families to take pride in the offerings of their state whether it is participating in story time at their community’s library, going to the local festival, accessing local healthy foods, getting immunizations and health checkups, or a wide variety of other opportunities in support of health, wellness and literacy.

Acknowledgements

The South Carolina DayByDay Family Literacy Activity Calendar was a collaboration of many wonderful and talented people throughout South Carolina. You will see the logos of those organizations have joined us as partners in the project on various web pages and we are grateful for their support. Most of all, we thank Helen Correll of Spartanburg and Colleen Coletta of Columbia for bringing the calendar to life through art and design. We dedicate this to families across South Carolina and hope you use it to develop a love for books and learning that will last a lifetime.