A cheap way to help children: Read to them

by David Tayloe, Goldsboro Pediatrician, published in Charlotte Observer, December 5, 2013.

Architects know it is imperative to have a fundamentally sound foundation to build a strong structure. Doctors know it is easier to keep a patient healthy than to change an adverse health situation after it is established. Parents know it is easier to build good habits than to change bad ones. Simply stated, starting smart is better than fixing issues down the line. Logic, experience and research demonstrate that retaining and trying to rehabilitate children who lack reading proficiency at the end of the third grade is very expensive and often futile.

What is the best approach for N.C. children? Start earlier. Parents must be persistently empowered to talk, read, interact and invest in their child’s early years of brain development. Children from upper middle class families hear 10 times as many words in the first two years of life as do children of indigent parents. The children who read the best in the third grade are the ones who hear their parents say the most words during those first two years of life. Children must grow up with access to constant adult conversation.

Communities must support the critical years 0-5. The controversial “Read to Succeed” legislation brings to light important conversations around the proficiency of reading skills for children across North Carolina. What is not featured in this legislation, however, is the critical nature of the first five years. It is easier to start earlier and start smarter. We must begin at the beginning, at the root, and invest in children and families before learning deficits are accrued. Brain development research points to this.

Doctors and nurses across North Carolina understand the importance of early investments in children, and are taking part in programs like Reach Out and Read, which helps to educate and activate parents as their children’s first and most important teachers through the 10 pediatric well-child visits that occur before children enter kindergarten. Reach Out and Read leverages the access and relationships providers have with families in those critical first five years to support healthy early brain and language development, thus enhancing school readiness. Reach Out and Read is supported by 15 peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate the program’s effectiveness in helping children get to school more prepared for success, and with more deeply engaged parents.

Our state is struggling to fund high quality preschool for at-risk children. Only one-third of at-risk young children are enrolled in these programs. Over 96 percent of our preschool children come into primary care medical offices for well-child care. Our state should work with primary care health professionals to ensure that they all have the financial resources they need to implement Reach Out and Read in their practices. It costs $50 per child to buy the appropriate books during the preschool timeframe. North Carolina cannot afford not to make Reach Out and Read available to all at-risk preschool children.

We challenge North Carolina not to settle for retention as a solution. Let’s truly support our children and families by supporting investments in the critical first five years of a child’s life.