AfterSchool KidzLit® Best Practices: Results (Part 1 of 8)

The great folks at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have learned so much from implementing the AfterSchool KidzLit® program that they wrote a guide on best practices for their sites. They shared this guide with us and we want to share it with you; there is a lot to be learned here, and I hope you find this helpful. Thank you to the National Boys and Girls Clubs of America for allowing us to share this with you. The story begins in 2009 and in very little time they began to see positive results, not only with their kids, but with their leaders.

We have broken the guide into sections to share them with you as part of a series; click here to download the entire Boys & Girls Club AfterSchool KidzLit Best Practices Guide.

In 2009, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation provided funding to enable 18 Boys & Girls Clubs to implement the AfterSchool KidzLit program with elementary and middle school youth. These organizations received grant funding, training and program materials. They collectively served more than 1,000 youth during the fall of that year at 16 traditional Clubhouses and seven elementary or middle school sites.

In a few short months, these Clubs learned much about how to implement the KidzLit program effectively and achieved some impressive results, both among their youth participants and in terms of their programming. For example, among youth:

• Boys and girls of diverse ages and cultural or ethnic backgrounds actively participated in program sessions and activities and helped recruit additional participants through positive “word of mouth.”
• Youth demonstrated an increased enthusiasm for reading and were motivated to increase the amount of their own reading.
• Young people expanded their vocabularies by learning about the words used in the KidzLit books in fun, engaging ways.
• Youth expressed themselves, worked together more effectively and shared performances, artwork, and writings with others in their Clubs.

Positive effects on overall Club programming included:  

• The professionals who attended BGCA’s program implementation training event trained other staff and volunteers at their Clubs to be effective program facilitators.
• Some Clubs recruited and trained volunteers to serve as program facilitators.
• All of the Clubs made sure to provide staff and volunteers with adequate planning time each week prior to conducting program sessions with children.
• Some of the Clubs retooled their schedules or program rotation patterns based on what they learned from implementing KidzLit.
• A number of the Clubs created more inviting, comfortable spaces where youth could enjoy reading. 
• All of the Clubs expanded and improved their libraries with the high-quality children’s literature contained in the KidzLit program kit.

Check back for the next installment!

*Boys & Girls Clubs of America gratefully acknowledges the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, whose generous funding support made it possible for Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to motivate young people to enjoy reading with the AfterSchool KidzLit program.

Note: This guide was developed by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to assist its sites in implementing the AfterSchool KidzLit program. The Boys & Girls Clubs generously shared this document as a facilitation tool to share their learnings, not as an endorsement of the program.