Brightside: Leemelo “read it to me”

GEORGETOWN, Del. – North Georgetown Elementary has made it its mission to provide Spanish-speaking students and their families with the tools to succeed, with their Leamos Juntos program, meaning “let’s read together.” Now they’re taking it a step further with their new Leemelo program, which means “read it to me,” a program for infants and toddlers. “It doesn’t matter what language they’re reading in, as long as they’re just reading to them and that will end up transferring once they get to school,” says Jennifer Nein, the ML Coordinator at North Georgetown Elementary.

Leemelo is an idea birthed from a lack of resources for Spanish-speaking families in the Georgetown community. “We were noticing some of our kids were coming to school and they didn’t necessarily have the background or the knowledge we wanted them to have,” says Nein. “With this program, we can just hit these little kids early and the parents can participate in this part 50 and it helps the kids see that literacy is important, that their parents want them to be literate.”

The program is designed to work with infants and toddlers ages three and under, along with their parents before even getting to school. Through the use of songs, dancing, educational physical activities, and of course reading books; the program is creating a strong literacy foundation for students and parents. “It’s so important for parents to read to their kids, it’s like the number one predictor of good readers,” says Nein. Abby Cortez, the bilingual school community liaison  adds, “We’re seeing how they’re using these strategies at home or incorporating reading into their home life, and the excitement in the kids as they come in, it’s so nice.”

We’re told Cortex plays a key role in connecting with the families in the program. She tells us, for her this mission truly hits home. ” I grew up in a family where my parents were only Spanish speakers and they didn’t know about resources or support.” Although she says her parents worked hard to get her those resources,
she says she knows all too well the need for more, and for them to be accessible. “We’re providing them with bilingual books, there’s Spanish and English, we’re showing them activities, we’re doing work sheets together and we’re not just doing it to have fun, we’re also teaching them why it’s important,” says Cortez.

Beyond the importance of building literacy in both languages, creating that relationship between children and their parents as they both navigate new territory and challenges. “Just being here, being present is the biggest difference that they can make in their child’s life,” says Cortez. Nein adds, “Seeing the parents with their kids and just spending time being literate it’s just so nice to watch.”

Educators like Cortez, say that programs like these are a full circle moment and are setting a standard for other schools and a path to success for all families. “I want to help in any way that I can and break those barriers so we can learn and help our students and strengthen any skill that they need.” Cortez adds, “The way that I sometimes think about it is, I like being the person who I needed when I was a little girl.”

This six-week program meets every Wednesday after school and while well underway, we’re told program coordinators are always ready to help, and invite more schools to take part in this initiative.

To find out more about Leemelo, call North Georgetown Elementary at 302-855-2430.