Reach Out and Read For Mansfield Children

Medical providers at Mansfield Pediatrics are sending families home from checkups with free books and a very important prescription – “read aloud to your children every day.”

On Thursday, state Sen. Mae Flexer (D-Killingly) visited the practice, not only to cheer them on, but to practice what doctors preach by reading to a group of young patients.

“Pediatricians providing books to young children and their families is a critical investment in early learning,” Flexer said. “We’re putting hundreds of kids on the path to success.”

Mansfield Pediatrics participates in Reach Out and Read, a program that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. Medical providers incorporate Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model into regular pediatric checkups, by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children.

“Reach Out and Read is a wonderful program that helps us give the gift of books to young children, and provides us with a wonderful opportunity to enrich our time with our patients,” said Dr. Anne Willenborg, the Reach Out and Read Medical Champion at Mansfield Pediatrics.

Through Reach Out and Read, each child starts kindergarten with a home library of up to 10 books. Reach Out and Read’s model includes providing a new, age-appropriate book for each child to take home at every checkup from 6 months through 5 years.

“Research shows that if you intervene in the first five years of life and partner with parents, you can dramatically improve the early literacy skills of a child, putting them on the track for success in school and in life,” said Reach Out and Read Connecticut Executive Director Christine Garber. “Childhood development experts tell us that the single most important activity that parents can do to prepare their children to succeed in school is to read aloud to them every day. “

Mansfield Pediatrics is one of 72 clinical locations in Connecticut that offer Reach Out and Read.

Contributed photo: State Sen. Mae Flexer with young readers at Mansfield Pediatrics.