Improving Education
Improving Education engages the entire family in learning through a Bedtime in a Box program designed to improve school readiness outcomes for children.
Bedtime in a Box provides low-income households with the tools needed to create sound habits, which address healthy behaviors and instill a love of learning through reading. Bedtime is the perfect time to nurture the bond between parent and child through the development of bedtime routines that include learning, literacy, and healthy habits. Items placed in every bedtime box connects the routine of bedtime to parent engagement and literacy. Each box includes materials for brushing teeth, bath time, putting on pajamas, reading, and saying good night.
The idea was born from many conversations with parents, teachers, and community members about what was needed to improve the health and literacy of kids prior to kindergarten.
These Bedtime boxes are distributed to lower income families through its school partners, Judy Centers, Head Start programs, and other early education organizations.
Bedtime in a Box has been highly successful in improving early indicators of success for children: reading at home increased from 30 minutes/week to 105 minutes/week; and the number of families reporting to have a consistent bedtime routine grew from 50% to 94% over a six-month study period.
In just a year and a half, more than 600 low-income families were provided with a Bedtime in a Box. Requests for these boxes continue to flood the organization as it works to reach more than 1,000 families this year.
Innovation Grant funds will be used to purchase new books and bathing and teeth-brushing supplies that will be distributed directly to lower-income families in Baltimore.
Improving Education works in conjunction with the school district, groups of schools, and individual teachers in Baltimore, Maryland, to develop and scale improvements that accelerate student achievement.
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