Read with your child in 2011

By Dr. Mary Ann Abrams

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“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” - Edith Lovejoy Pierce.

The dawn of a new year brings new opportunity. Use this opportunity to make reading with your child a tradition.

Reading together is a great way to bond with your child. It stimulates language and cognitive skills, and builds motivation and curiosity.

Beyond that, the nurturing and one-on-one attention from parents during reading aloud encourages children to form a positive association with books and reading later in life.

Reach Out and Read Iowa medical providers promote reading every single day. At regular pediatric checkups, they give every child 6 months through 5 years old a new, developmentally appropriate children's book to take home and enjoy. They stock their waiting rooms with reading tips, literature-inspired posters and beautiful books.

Our doctors and nurses speak with parents about the importance and joy of reading aloud to their young children every day. Reading to children improves their chances for success in school and in life. There are more than a dozen studies that support this statement.

The children we serve start school with a six-month developmental edge over their peers. And they're less likely to face difficulties later in life - absenteeism, delinquency, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and dropping out.

Reach Out and Read, as a national school-readiness organization, has lots of great tools for you. On the website, you'll find dozens of doctor-recommended books for children of all ages, along with reading tips for parents and developmental milestones of literacy.

Reading is fun. Outside of your home, reading opens the doors for family experiences, such as Reach Out and Read Iowa's Green Eggs and Ham Benefit Breakfast for Books on March 4. Reading brings you to libraries, museums and exhibits of all sorts. It helps create memories for you and your child.

Books contain many words that children are unlikely to encounter frequently in spoken language. Children's books contain 50 percent more rare words than prime time television.

And it's never too early to start. The more words parents use when speaking to an 8-month-old infant, the greater her vocabulary at age 3.

Forget about resolutions. Instead, focus on opportunity. Make 2011 the year of the book.

Dr. Mary Ann Abrams is the medical director and coalition leader for Reach Out and Read Iowa. For more information, visit www.reachoutandreadiowa.org. Comments: abramsma@ihs.org