Prime Time Family Reading: Host Prime Time Preschool

How Prime Time Preschool Works

Understanding Prime Time Preschool

The program serves children from three- to five-years old and their families. Meeting for 90-minute weekly sessions for six weeks in the evenings, families share meals and engage in reading, discussion, and play-centered learning activities. The program creates a rich, humanities-based learning environment and promotes family engagement and school readiness through development of reading, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Using beautifully illustrated, award-winning books with culturally diverse stories and themes, trained facilitators model reading, discussion, and interactive play-based learning activities for young children and their caregivers, encouraging meaningful at-home reading sessions for families.

Bringing Prime Time Preschool to My Community

Libraries, museums, schools, and other eligible youth-serving organizations can apply to Humanities Washington for full funding and support. The program can be delivered in English or a bilingual (Spanish/English) format. Discussion leaders use big ideas in children’s literature to start each group discussion, but each discussion is unique and reflects each community served.

Find out more below at the Apply section or contact us with any questions.

Meeting the Needs of My Community

Prime Time Preschool can be easily adapted to meet the needs of your community. The program can be delivered in a variety of appropriate settings within youth-serving organizations. Curricula are available in English-only or Spanish/English bilingual formats. Proven program methods are in place to successfully serve multi-lingual communities, bridging both generational and cultural gaps. Culturally appropriate meals can be selected by team members to ensure the program will be welcoming to families.

If you have any concerns or questions about how Prime Time might fit within your community, please contact our Prime Time Team.

Roles

Humanities Washington’s Role

Humanities Washington provides all approved partners with funding for program books, healthy weekly meals, interactive learning center supplies, and team member stipends. Humanities Washington also supplies team member training, form templates, publicity kits, program management materials, detailed timelines, sample budgets, and access to experienced Humanities Washington staff. All partners receive direct support and guidance from a dedicated project manager from application through program completion and final reporting.

The Prime Time Host’s role

Eligible youth-serving organizations apply to Humanities Washington for funding.  If approved, hosts partner with other youth-serving organizations and identify students who would benefit from participation in Prime Time Preschool. Hosts then reserve suitable rooms, recruit team members, connect with Humanities Washington staff to arrange team member training, arrange catering and/or gift cards, and facilitate delivery of the program — from initializing community partnerships to submitting final reports and budgets.

Prime Time Preschool hosts:

• Identify and recruit 20 or more students and their families in order to serve between 10 and 15 families each week of the program.
• Allocate staff time to support the program.
• Communicate the benefits of program participation to students and their families.

Prime Time Team Members

Each Prime Time series is delivered by five team members, each integral to the program in important ways:

• Program Coordinator oversees the logistics and success of the program. This role is often filled by a librarian or program professional at the host organization, and who is often the person who applies to Humanities Washington to fund Prime Time programs.
• Community Organizer (optional), a school or other youth-serving organization employee, recruits 20 or more families, supports the program coordinator, translates if necessary, and contacts families each week to maintain steady attendance.
• Two Preschool Facilitators guide participants to think beyond shallow considerations of who, what, when, and where, promoting critical thinking, reasoning, and questioning skills. Prime Time Preschool Facilitators demonstrate how literature can enrich participants’ lives, model strategies for continued family bonding through literature, and provide families critical information on resources for continued reading once a Prime Time program ends.

What Hosts Receive:

• $8,500 per in-person Prime Time series
• $5,500 per online Prime Times series
• Team member training
• Access to curriculum materials
• Access to experienced Humanities Washington staff

All Washington State public libraries, elementary schools, museums, family resource centers, and other youth-serving organizations are eligible to submit letters of interest.

Online Prime Time Team Member trainings in 2025 have ended. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any team members who will need support before the next round of trainings in January 2026. 

As a reminder, all team members new to Prime Time are required to complete training in advance of implementing a Prime Time program. Trainings include a program overview, role-specific sessions, and a practicum. Before attending a workshop, trainees receive practice copies of Prime Time books, a short reading list, and links to self-paced online role-specific training modules. More updates to come.  

Contact Us

For more information about Prime Time, please contact our Prime Time Team at [email protected], or 206-682-1770 ext. 104.

Contact Prime Time Program Managers