The MMA encourages physicians to let their patients know how important it is to read to children and encourages clinics to develop programs that foster reading to children. Research shows a strong relationship between reading to children and their language and cognitive development. Toddlers who have been read to at an early age understand language better and have larger more expressive vocabularies, which prepares them to succeed in school.
Although reading aloud to children helps stimulate brain development, only 50 percent of infants and toddlers are routinely read to by their parents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. That’s one reason why the MMA in 2008 adopted R. 101 encouraging physicians and clinics to promote reading.
Here are some ways physicians and clinics can encourage patients to read to children.
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read, a program endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, provides books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading. Minnesota clinics participating in Reach Out and Read give children up to five years old a new book during each well-child visit. Posters in waiting rooms encourage reading and volunteers may be on hand to read aloud to the children. Currently, this program reaches more than 40,000 pre-kindergarten children through more than 60 clinics throughout Minnesota. Books are translated into Spanish, Ojibwa, Hmong and Somali. Some clinics have expanded the program to older children.
Reach Out an Read is research-based. Twelve studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals showing how effective it is in expanding the language of young children and encouraging parents to read aloud more often.
Get Started. To find out how to participate in Reach Out and Read Minnesota or, for more information, contact Lynne Burke at lynne.burke@hcmed.org or call 612-873-8954. Start-up support is available for clinics to help them cover book costs.
Contribute. It costs just $8 per year to provide books for one child a year, and $40 will provide 10 books for one child – a book at each check-up visit from age six months to five years. If you would like to contribute, please send your donation to the Minnesota Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics Foundation (the fiscal sponsor of the Minnesota Reach Out and Read program) Attention: ROR at 1043 Grand Ave. #544, St. Paul, MN 55105.
Volunteer Reading Programs
Another way for clinics to encourage reading is to set up a volunteer reading program following these simple steps: 1) Designate a program coordinator, 2) Find volunteer readers by contacting community service organizations, churches, retired educators, hospital volunteer services, etc. 3) Gather books from libraries or ask for donations, 4) Display a poster that encourages reading, 5) Schedule times during the clinic’s busiest hours when volunteers can read aloud to children in the waiting room. 6) Encourage parents to read to their children every day beginning when they are just a few months old.
This model, based on Project Read, was developed by Robert O. Fisch, M.D. If you have questions or would like more information, contact Dr. Fisch at fisch001@umn.edu or (612) 375-9760.
Other Programs
Do you have a reading program in your clinic? To share your stories and your advice with other physicians, email Scott Smith at the MMA..
Learn More
Reach Out and Read Minnesota
Research on the importance of reading to children
“The Power of Books” by Kim Kiser, Minnesota Medicine, March, 2009
“Rx: read to your children” by Scott Smith, Minnesota Medicine, March, 2009
“Emphasize the Early Years” by Arthur Rolnick and Rob Grunewald, Minnesota Medicine, February 2009
Summary of Reach out and Read Model
American Academy of Pediatrics Literacy Toolkit