Effective literacy programs that target both adults and children can have profound effects on the health and well-being of families, according to a panel of educators and analysts…

The doctors, nurses and public health workers who administer Reach Out and Read “give parents advice about how important it is to read to their young children,” she said. “We give the child a book to take home at every visit. We start when the children are only 6 months old, and we continue until they are 5 years old and ready to start school.”

It is widely recognized that children develop literacy skills long before they learn to read, just as they develop language skills before they begin to speak…

Klass cited the concepts of mother/child literacy and also literacy and health as “very important in the work that we do with young children and their families and with health care workers.” Reach Out and Read encourages parents to read aloud to their children “so that children grow up with books and a love of reading,” she explained. “Health care providers … have a remarkable opportunity to reach parents when their children are very young.” …

Source: USINFO.STATE.GOV
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