At home with books

About this program

At Home with Books is a program to encourage language development and literacy in children in out-of-home care. The core of the program is the free book given to each child every month. Children in out of home care have poorer educational outcomes than their peers and the program has the long-term aim of redressing that imbalance. The program was trialled at Marymead for a year with the support of the Canberra Community Foundation. It s now in its second stage- taking the program to other foster care agencies in the ACT. The third stage will open the project to children in care across Australia.

Our partners

The program has been funded by the Telstra Foundation and the generous support of Scholastic Books. It is a partnership project - we are grateful for the support of ACT Libraries and the Numeracy and Literacy team of the ACT Department of Education and Youth and Family Services. We are most fortunate to have children's writer, Jackie French, as our enthusiastic and inspiring patron.

Who we work with

The program is for children in out of home care - foster care or residential care. The program is designed primarily for children under 12.

Ways to help

You can support the work of Marymead by asking to be put on our mailing list, which will keep you informed about our activities, including fundraising and volunteering.

How to contact us

The project officer works part-time.

Phone: 02 6162 5800

Fax: 02 6295 9944

Email: athomewithbooks@marymead.org.au

Links

Telstra Foundation

Scholastic Books