Reading Head Start

By Devin Felix

The Herald Journal

December 31, 2008

Along with the stethoscopes, syringes, diapers and other pediatric supplies at Logan’s Intermountain Budge clinic, there are items that play just as big a role in children’s health — shelves and shelves of books.

Doctors at the clinic use the books as part of Reach Out and Read, a national program designed to promote reading among their patients as young as six months old. Doctors incorporate an age-appropriate book into each of the child’s six-month wellness checkups.

“It’s really our one way to promote good development among our patients,” said pediatrician Michael Visick.

Visick demonstrated what such a checkup looks like for Utah Sen. Lyle Hillyard, who visited the clinic Tuesday morning. Visick gave his 18-month-old patient Tanner Woodward a book and drew his attention to the pages. He uses books to check children’s motor skills, vocabulary development, visual acuity and other progress, he explained.

At the end of the checkup, the doctor gives the book to the young patient to keep and encourages the child’s parents to continue reading with him at home.

It may not seem like much, but Visick said something so simple can have a big impact on a child’s readiness to start school. Multiple studies have shown that children who are exposed to books at a young age have an advantage in learning to read, he said.

“We’ve figured out from kids all across the country that those exposed to books earlier develop reading better,” Visick said.

The program is carried out with children from 6 months to 5 years old, and over the course of that time, a child will take home a total of up to 10 books. For many of the children, those books are the only ones in their homes. Encouraging reading at the doctor’s office introduces children to books well before they enter school, which is important for reading development, Visick said.

Giving children a book provides them a sense of ownership and attachment, which encourages them to read, said Carey Crockett, program director of Utah’s Reach Out and Read program.

Tanner demonstrated that attachment clearly when Visick briefly took the book away from him to show it to Hillyard. The child whined and stretched out his hands for the book, and he wasn’t appeased when his mother offered him a different book.

Tanner’s mother, Jennifer Crockett, said she is grateful for the program.

“I think it’s great. When my kids come home with the books, they’re always excited,” she said. “And it’s nice to have other people reinforce what you’re teaching.”

The Reach Out and Read program began nationally in 1989 in Massachusetts. In Utah, the program began in 1998. This is its first year in Cache Valley, and doctors at the Cache Valley Community Health Center also participate.