With the holidays almost upon us, the next few weeks will bring you several gift ideas, many of which, will naturally be related to books and reading. I personally don’t think there are too many gifts out there that can be considered more valuable. Especially when it comes to children. I truly believe that when you put thought into and spend time on getting a child a good book, your gesture has a lasting impact on the child’s life. I’ve experienced this myself and am delighted to watch history repeat itself with my daughter, whose most cherished gifts are books given by uncles, aunts and grandparents who care enough to give her a gift that she can experience and enjoy for years.
Speaking of gifts… last week, I stumbled upon this non-profit program that aims to give children and families across America, one of the greatest gifts there is – literacy.
Reach out and read is a national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by enlisting the help of doctors and nurses in pediatric clinics. The way they do this is by providing clinics with books to give away to children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, during their visits to the doctor’s office. Doctors and nurses participate in this program by prescribing books to the children who come to see them and offering advice and reading tips to parents.
Read Aloud To Your Baby For a Few Minutes Every day
- Doctor’s Orders!
There may be hundreds of programs out there that promote early literacy and reading aloud to babies from birth. But, by involving pediatricians and nurses in the process, this program ensures that parents don’t take the advice too lightly. Illiteracy could very well become a dangerous disease if not curbed and treated early on and Reach out and read’s approach is to promote its prevention with an early start, by encouraging reading aloud from infancy. So, when a clinic participates in ROR, parents and babies leave the doctor’s office with more than just up to date immunization records and growth charts. During the visit, they’re equipped with valuable information and advice on reading and age appropriate children’s books – kindly donated by volunteers in the program.
You Too Can Reach Out and Read
If you like how Reach out and Read works and would like to get involved, there are many ways you can do so.
Join an existing program in your city by finding a participating clinic and volunteering your time, collecting and donating books and /or money. Reach out and read offers several literacy resources that will be useful to anyone interested in promoting reading and literacy in children. In addition, every now and then ROR teams up with authors, publishers and performers, expanding the reach of their message. For instance, they’ve currently partnered with The Wiggles and will be an active part of their “Go Bananas Live” tour, encouraging families to donate books for the ROR cause at The Wiggles’ tour stops. So if you decide to take your kids to a Wiggles’ concert, be sure to take a new board book along to donate to a child in need. And you’re sure to bring back more than just pictures and memories of the event.
For you would have become a valuable drop in the ocean by doing your bit to promote literacy among children.
And I can’t think of a more beautiful way to kick off the holiday season. Can you?
