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LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (May 8, 2008) - Wilford Hall
Medical Center here has launched a new program emphasizing the
importance of literacy to parents and children alike.
Reach Out and Read, a national nonprofit organization, uses
several methods to promote early literacy as part of routine
pediatric care, including having volunteers reading aloud in
pediatric waiting rooms.
Its main approach, though, is to promote literacy during
well-baby or well-child visits for children from ages 6 months
through 4 years. Pediatric providers trained in the Reach Out and
Read model offer age-appropriate tips to emphasize to parents and
caretakers the importance of reading aloud to children. The parents
also are encouraged to invent stories to go with pictures in the
books.
During each of these visits, the child receives a new
developmentally appropriate book to keep.
Reach Out and Read's programs are located in more than 3,700
hospitals and health centers in 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.
Through these programs, more than 5.4 million new books are
distributed each year to more than 3.4 million children and their
families.
In 2007, Reach Out and Read teamed up with the Defense
Department and its Office of Family Policy, Children and Youth to
implement the institution of the organization's programs in up to
20 military health care facilities across the nation.
Research demonstrates that parents who are encouraged by their
pediatric providers to read aloud to their children are more likely
to do so, and consequently report reading aloud as a favorite
activity to share with their children. Furthermore, children who
are read to during the first years of life are much more likely to
learn to read on schedule, contributing to later school
success.
Reach Out and Read helps parents understand developmental
stages, builds routines that reassure children, and develops skills
and knowledge essential for families being tested by separation and
deployment.
The organization is a supporter of America Supports You, a
Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with
servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals,
groups and organizations that are helping support the troops,
visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America
Supports You directly connects military members to the support of
the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their
quest to find meaningful ways to support the military
community.
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