Mom and child bring books to waiting room

The goal of the Reach Out and Read program is to expose children to the positive effects of reading out loud. Studies show that reading aloud to children from their infancy on can stimulate success in school later.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Barbara Healey and her daughter Alison, 3, take an hour or so to read to kids who are waiting to see doctors or who come with parents who have appointments.

Filling a need

"When you're living at or below poverty level, buying books is not your priority. Reach Out and Read helps address that need," Ms. Healey said.

At well-child checkups, doctors encourage parents to read to their children and offer tips on how to do so according to the children's ages. Each child six months to five years is given a book to take home. In addition, volunteers like Mrs. Healey read to kids in order to model reading techniques.

Kid to kid

"Sometimes, there's a child who might be shy and wouldn't approach you to read a book," Ms. Healey said. "Once they start to hear the story [being read to Alison], they creep closer and closer. You engage them because it's an activity that's already happening."

At other times, Alison directly engages other children, approaching them to ask, "Would you like to come read a story with us?"

Ms. Healey is trying to instill a sense of giving in her daughter. "I was looking for sites so that her first introduction to volunteering would be something that she enjoyed," she explained. "As she gets older, it will always be with her. This is what you do: You give back to your community."

Worth the effort

"Here you are, a stranger, and they'll come sit on your lap and really become engaged," she said. "But when they get called, they get up and leave. You may start a story, then find that five pages into it, you've lost your audience."

But the temporary relationships that Ms. Healey establishes with the children are rewarding when she sees how much the children enjoy the stories and attention.

(The Whitney M. Young Jr. Center is in need of volunteers to read in the waiting room, and the Reach Out and Read program is in need of books. To find out more, call 465-4771, ext. 207, or e-mail [email protected].)

(08-22-02) [[In-content Ad]]