What is 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten?
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is an early literacy program designed to help parents and caregivers give their young children the confidence necessary to become strong readers. The goal is to develop a love of reading in your child from a very young age.
Why register for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten?
Reading to your child helps them build social and emotional skills, develop their creativity and imagination, make connections and do well academically. Additionally, it’s a great way to spend time with your child and get them familiar with borrowing and caring for books at the library.
Program Overview
The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless. Read a book (in any language) to your newborn, infant, and/or toddler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes, you can repeat books) before your little one finishes kindergarten. Does it sound hard? Not really if you think about it. If you read just 1 book a day, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 in three years.
How To Participate
- Sign in or register on Beanstack:
– Go to our Beanstack website at russellbiblio.beanstack.org
– Click on “Register an Individual or Family”
– Fill in your information. Beanstack allows families to be linked together, so all family members can be accessed with one login.
* If you already have a Beanstack account, there’s no need to make a new one. - Register for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten:
– Once you’ve signed on or created a Beanstack account, register for the program. Whether your child is 3 years old or 3 months old, there’s no better time to start than now. - Log the books you’ve read to earn badges and prizes.
- Visit the library each time you reach 100 books to chart your child’s progress on the Reading Wall and to claim your prize.
- At 500 books read, participants receive a free book!
- At 1,000 books read, participants receive a final prize and certificate!
- (Prizes can be redeemed at both branches).
-Beanstack is a web-based reading challenge software
-It allows you to easily track your reading and earn badges & tickets for chances to win prizes
-It is available to download as an app for your device or for use on a desktop
Beanstack (Helpful Videos)
How to create an account
Register as an individual account creator and/or add readers (if applicable).
How to view and participate in challenges
Select a challenge based on age and preferred language.
How to log reading
Anyone participating in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge will need to log books.
Click here for more videos and related articles.
Don’t want to use Beanstack? No problem.
Keep track of your child’s reading by using our paper format. Visit the library and a staff member will help enter the information into your child’s log.
Book Lists
Need book recommendations? Our team has prepared a list of their favourite books for 0-6 year olds!
F.A.Q.s
Who can participate?
Any child 0-6 years. If your child has started kindergarten and has not completed the challenge, they have until they are 6 years old.
When can we sign up?
Anytime! But we strongly recommend registering before your child enters kindergarten.
What books count?
Books from home, from the library, books read during story time, ebooks, and audiobooks. Even books that grandma or the babysitter read count!
Can I count books we read before starting the program?
No, you start at 0 books read when you start the program.
The name 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is used with permission from the 1000 Books Foundation.