More than 30 children attending Fort Jackson's three child-development centers this summer will return to school as better readers, thanks to a grant-financed program designed to boost vocabulary and comprehension.

The children attend high-poverty schools in Richland 1 and 2 during the school year. Program coordinators also allowed 10 students from Fort Jackson's two elementary schools to use the materials as they created art and learned to cook.

"All three sites had to expand areas" to encourage reading, said Bertha White, a training specialist with Child, Youth and School Services who works with children at Imboden School Age Center. For example, training specialist Christina Brown said that Imboden Child Development Center added poetry and writing centers.

South Carolina's Afterschool Alliance financed the program, aimed at children in kindergarten through fifth grade who attend high-poverty schools.

The computer-based I-Ready curriculum allowed children to read at their child-care centers -- Imboden Child Development Center, and Imboden and Hood Street school-age centers -- and will let them use the materials at home throughout the coming school year.

The summer program included 20 hours of reading instruction for each student. Instruction included games that tested knowledge of certain skills -- phonics, vocabulary, understanding -- so children "played" while they learned. They also had time just to read an array of high-quality children's books.

"Yes, you're playing, but you're still using the literacy," White said.

The centers intend to continue using the program during the school year, to boost homework skills.

The S.C. Afterschool Alliance is a partnership among government agencies, private foundations, the arts community, school districts and colleges, and child-development centers aimed at promoting learning.