Humanities Nebraska (HN, humanitiesnebraska.org) has announced that Prime Time Family Reading and Prime Time Preschool will be held at 23 locations, including five new sites in Fremont, Grand Island, Lincoln, and Omaha. Each series is a free six-week program with storytelling and discussion based on award-winning children’s books at public libraries, elementary schools, and community centers across the state.

Prime Time Family Reading is for families with children ages six to ten who struggle with reading and includes special activities for siblings ages three to five. Prime Time Preschool is for families who want their children ages three to five to develop reading readiness skills. Sixteen of the 23 series will be bilingual in English and Spanish, one will have Karen translation, and one will have Kurmanji translation. Two will be offered online.

These Humanities Nebraska family literacy programs help strengthen participants’ interest and skills in reading and talking about books. A ten-year analysis published by Prime Time creators found that children who attend Prime Time Family Reading show a 95-100% improvement on achievement tests through elementary school and 81% improvement on high school exit exams.

Humanities Nebraska has offered Prime Time since 2002, reaching more than 17,600 Nebraskans in 411 Prime Time series that have been held throughout the state. Teachers who are interested in recommending families for Prime Time should contact one of the sites listed above and ask to speak with the Prime Time coordinator.

For more information on Humanities Nebraska and Prime Time, go to humanitiesnebraska.org.