Community Reading Buddies is a new partner of the Oakland Fund for Children & Youth

Be a Youth Mentor

Community Reading Buddies is a new partner of the Oakland Fund for Children & Youth

Be a Youth Mentor

Our Curriculum

CRB’s curriculum is aligned with the five core elements of the Science of Reading, including:

  • Phonological Awareness
  • Phonics
  • Fluency
  • Vocabulary
  • Comprehension

We are proud to partner with BookNook, a digital literacy platform where Youth Mentors and their Buddies engage in literacy activities via online video conferencing. BookNook helps us meet every student’s individual needs, according to their exact reading level, through fun literacy activities and level-appropriate and carefully-selected books.

BookNook provides scaffolding for young mentors, provides helpful tips, and monitors young readers’ progress in real time.

Each Comprehension lesson features a live, age-appropriate book, with Talking Points included to discuss the story.

BookNook lessons have fun and engaging games that test for comprehension, and also allow for some friendly competition among students. 

Additionally, BookNook includes time after the book to keep the conversation going, with suggestions of prompts to encourage the reader to further discuss the book.

Together we can close the early literacy gap in the Bay Area

Become a DONOR

"Every day, Shaifa was very excited for Reading Buddies and to see Michael. He made her feel like she can get better every day. I’ve never seen her in a class where she was this excited!”

– Shaifa’s Mom Sajeda, after Shaifa grew by nearly a full grade level in literacy in eight weeks

"Envy had low confidence in herself when it came to reading. And she's never really been interested in reading. Now she wants to read all the time!...I love this program!"

– Envy’s Mom Shamika, after Envy grew by a full grade level in literacy in literacy in seven weeks

"You can see the growth from the beginning to the end with the kids, and the feeling you get is just indescribable. It's really amazing to watch your Buddy's confidence grow, to watch their skills grow, and to know that you were a part of it. It just feels amazing.”

– Aniyah, CRB mentor