ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – An Upper Peninsula organization is getting books into the hands of children and initiating conversations about early literacy between parents and healthcare providers.
Reach Out and Read is the only national pediatric reading model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since 2019, the Delta-Schoolcraft Great Start Collaborative has partnered with the nonprofit to provide books, literacy materials, and program support to physicians.
“It’s like a trusted messenger,” said Delta-Schoolcraft Great Start co-director Laurie Mold. “If people are hearing from a doctor how important it is to be working on those skills, then we know they’re going to be doing it.”
Now, Great Start is updating its current programs at OSF HealthCare, UP Health System, and Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital. The collaborative is also bringing the program to OSF’s Gladstone clinic for the first time.
During well checks, physicians initiate developmentally-appropriate discussions with parents about reading with their children. For example, Mold says teaching a child to follow the words with their finger helps to build a strong foundation.
“Even if the child can’t talk yet, they’re taking in all that information,” she said. “All that information builds their brains, literally, connection by connection.”
She says instilling an interest in reading at an early age is crucial when it comes to preparing children to start school.
“A lot of families don’t really understand how important it is to start building those skills as soon as possible so when they start preschool, they’re already ahead of the game,” said Mold. “Then when they start kindergarten, they will have all the skills that they need. Early literacy is also really important because it builds a parent-child connection, a certain bond. We think it’s fantastic to have that partnership with doctors offices in order to reach families.”
The Great Start Collaborative thanks its community partners, Ready for School, and the State—which provided additional grant funding—for making the Reach Out and Read program possible in Delta and Schoolcraft counties.
For more information on the Delta-Schoolcraft Great Start Collaborative, click here. Learn more about the Reach Out and Read program by visiting reachoutandreadmi.org.
