During the past year, with generous financial support from local and national foundations 1,734 dads and their 2,095 children participated in FRED events statewide. More than 55 agencies such as head starts, elementary schools, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), community centers, father programs, and community action councils offered a total of 65 FRED series.
Fathers Reading Every Day (FRED) encourages fathers to read to their children daily. Recent evaluation indicates that the program significantly improves:
- The amount of time fathers spend reading with their children
- Fathers’ level of involvement in their children's education
- The quality of time fathers’ spend with their children
- The level of satisfaction with the father-child relationship.
For agencies considering hosting a FRED event, best results occur when the activities are scheduled as 4-week program with two sessions: an opening event highlighting the fun and importance of reading with children and a closing celebration. The most successful programs feature books given away to families and refreshments.
Other tips for hosting a successful FRED program can be found here:
The Humanities Center provides detailed information for sites seeking to successfully meet the needs of fathers and their families by hosting a FRED event. Unfortunately, the Humanities Center no longer receives grant dollars to provide staff support and book donations previously available to sites hosting FRED events.