BRL Contest | Braille Reading Pals - Early Literacy Program
To promote the joy of reading for pleasure, to promote a pride in Braille as a viable literacy medium equal to print, and to demonstrate the importance of independent reading in the development of Braille literacy skills.
The program is co-sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) and the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB). Both organizations are affiliated divisions of the National Federation of the Blind. Organizational and corporate supporters of the program include the National Braille Press, the United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, and Ty Inc. (makers of Beanie Babies).
The Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest is a national contest for Braille students, kindergarten through twelfth grades. For more information about this year's newly renovated contest, see the Contest Information and Instructions file under "Print Forms" below or click the following link for an overview piece found in the November Braille Monitor: 08-09 Braille Readers Are Leaders Overview and Changes.
Residential or day schools for the blind that enroll a significant percentage of their students in the contest and in other ways promote Braille literacy and the Braille Readers Are Leaders program during the contest period receive a special certificate suitable for framing and public display.
Braille Reading Pals is an early literacy program that gently encourages and rewards parents for reading daily with their blind or low vision children ages 0-7 (or older if the children have developmental delays) who are not yet reading. Sponsored by the Jernigan Institute, this free two-month program begins November 1 and concludes December 31. Click the following link to obtain registration forms and for more information about the program: Braille Reading Pals overview and Spring Program Registration.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for the NOPBC pages, please send an e-mail to jim@riversedgehomes.com with "NOPBC Web site" in the subject.