Iowa State University Extension

Problem:
We had a group at La Casa Latina in Sioux City that was interested in our program, Family Storyteller. This group belongs to ESL students there, but we didn’t have the sets of books for this program. We also needed to buy materials for the crafts. We had around ten families that wanted to take the program.

Response:
A donor stepped forward to assist our programming with Spanish speaking families. We obtained funds to buy seventy sets of books, plus crafts and incentives for other programs. With this material, we offered Family Storyteller at La Casa Latina and at Even Start ESL programs.

Impact:
We served eight families at La Casa Latina, twenty-one families at Even Start morning class, and twenty families at Even Start afternoon class. Each group participated in six sessions of our program, Family Storyteller, two hours each session. The last 40 minutes, the children joined our groups, read together and prepared crafts about the reading. All parents agreed they learned to spend quality time with their children, including visits to the library, taking care of the books, less time watching TV, and the importance of reading for the language development.

Contact:
Nancy Nicho
Woodbury County Extension
4301 Sergeant Road, Ste 213
Sioux City, IA 51106
712-255-0364
nicho@iastate.edu