The Santa Barbara Reading Coalition will host a free community workshop, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24 in the Faulkner Gallery at the Santa Barbara Public Library, 40 E. Anapamu St.
The event is aimed at helping families better understand how children learn to read and how to recognize when a child may be struggling.
Titled Reading Skills 101, the workshop responds to a pressing local concern: about 50 percent of children in Santa Barbara are not reading at grade level, organizers said.
Kristen Koeller, of the Reading League California, will present an interactive, hands-on presentation on early childhood reading development skills. Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse will deliver opening remarks in support of local literacy improvement efforts.
The event is designed for parents, caregivers, educators, and community members. To make the workshop family friendly, there will be a children’s story time at the event, and every family in attendance will receive a free, new book to take home.
The workshop will equip parents and caregivers with clear, research-aligned information and guidance about reading development, screening tools, and effective reading instruction across all grade levels, according to the Santa Barbara Reading Coalition.
Koeller is a former educator with some 23 years of experience in California public schools. She is a nationally recognized literacy expert specializing in dyslexia, reading assessment and intervention, and structured literacy.
Koeller will cover how children learn to read; key reading milestones by age and grade; what effective reading instruction looks like’ how reading assessments guide instruction; and how families can support literacy at home.
She will also explain California’s new state-mandated K–2 reading screener and what it means for students and families.
Koeller is trained in Orton-Gillingham methodologies and certified as a CERI Structured Literacy Classroom Teacher endorsed by the International Dyslexia Association.
To sign up for the workshop, visit https://bit.ly/4851rVS.
The Santa Barbara Reading Coalition is dedicated to ensuring all students in Santa Barbara County achieve reading proficiency, supporting school board trustees, superintendent, principals, teachers, parents, and students with the resources and knowledge required to solve our reading challenges.
Learn more at www.sbreads.org.