Read Aloud Delaware partners with Beacon Pediatrics to promote children's literacy

Mary Poppins suggested that "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." But at Beacon Pediatrics, it might be a tale of “Clifford the Big Red Dog” or a story about “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” that helps take the sting out of a trip to the doctor.

When Beacon Pediatrics, located in the Beebe Medical Arts Building on John J. Williams Highway in Rehoboth Beach, joined the Reach Out and Read Literacy Program last February, it set the stage for a natural partnership between the pediatric practice and Read Aloud Delaware, a statewide children's literacy program.

"Partnering with Beacon Pediatrics is a perfect fit for us," says Read Aloud Delaware Sussex Country Coordinator Lisa Coldiron. "Both Read Aloud and the pediatricians at Beacon are dedicated to ensuring that Delaware's children enter kindergarten ready to read and succeed."

Volunteers from Read Aloud Delaware get the ball rolling in the waiting room of the pediatric practice, reading to the young patients, chatting with their parents, and modeling the techniques of reading aloud.

"Holding and sharing a real book with a child is a teachable moment," says Roxanne Nelson, a Read Aloud volunteer and former kindergarten teacher. "Reading aloud or along with a child not only stimulates the mind, but all of the senses. Children hear music in your voice as you say the words with emotion; they see pictures of new places and objects; they touch the printed words and pictures as they develop vocabulary, and they can feel texture in some of the books."

For the young patients at Beacon Pediatrics, the experience can be much like Mary Poppin's sugar. "My daughter was at Beacon for a sick visit," said parent Kate Montizer. "She had pneumonia and was really under the weather. This lady [Nelson] came up and asked if she could read to her. It was so soothing and comforting. We absolutely loved it."

Says Beacon pediatrician Dr. Stacey Fox, "I have had a few of the parents mention to me about how much they enjoyed their children getting read to while they waited, which was a perfect way to introduce the ideas about how important it is to read with children from a very young age."

A study conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital concluded that "early reading does have an impact on the parts of the brain that are fundamental for developing literacy," according to Dr. Thomas DeWitt, director of general and community pediatrics at the hospital. A Reach Out and Read study has shown that children served by literacy programs like Read Aloud score three to six months ahead on vocabulary tests and fundamental language skills.

The goal of the national Reach Out and Read program, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is to prepare all children to enter kindergarten ready to read, learn, and succeed. Every child aged 6 months through 5 years seen at Beacon Pediatrics is given a new, developmentally appropriate book to take home and keep. In addition, the medical staff speaks to parents about the importance of reading aloud to their young children every day.

Read Aloud Delaware's mission is to ensure that each preschool child in Delaware is regularly read to one-on-one. The nonprofit agency was founded in 1983 and provides volunteers to child care centers, clinics, and shelters serving low-income families. The Sussex County office, headquartered in Georgetown, currently serves 35 preschool and kindergarten sites in the county. Last year, 213 volunteers read to over 2,000 young students.

Read Aloud Delaware also is committed to the education of parents in the importance of reading to their children from an early age. To that end, Read Aloud also offers child care centers a three-part Parent Empowerment Program, concentrating on Language to Literacy, Reading Readiness, and Scribbling to Writing. The programs introduce parents to low-cost literacy activities that they can do with their children. As Coldiron reminds everyone, "Everyone benefits when we work together for the good of our children."

"Most importantly," adds Nelson, "it is the quality time we spend with a child that helps to prepare them for a love of books, reading, and learning. It is a moment not to be missed...even at the doctor's office."

For more information on Read Aloud Delaware, including volunteering or interest in the Parent Empowerment Programs, call 302-856-2527.