2012 TAKE TIME TO GIVE PRIMARY CHARITY

Reach Out and Read prepares Arkansas’ youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with pediatricians to prescribe books and to emphasize the importance of reading together as a family. The program begins at the six-month checkup and continues through age 5, with a special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities. Families served by Reach Out and Read are reading more often, and their children enter kindergarten with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills – leaving them better prepared to achieve their potential.

Early literacy experiences for infants, toddlers and preschoolers are critical to brain development and healthy outcomes in children. Families living in poverty often lack the money to buy new books, as well as access to libraries. In fact, 61 percent of low-income families have no children’s books in their homes. And only 44 percent of Arkansas parents read to their children daily, ranking Arkansas 43 out of 50 states in daily parental reading.

Reach Out and Read Arkansas aims to improve these statistics. Pediatricians work with families on “prescriptions” for reading, helping ensure that every Arkansas child enters kindergarten equipped with the skills needed to succeed.

In Arkansas there are 27 Reach Out and Read Programs serving 40,372 children and distributing 61,320 books annually. To learn more about Reach Out and Read Arkansas or to help put books into the hands of children growing up without them, visit www.reachoutandreadarkansas.org.

Read about our 2011 Take Time To Give Primary Charity: ACCESS Group Inc.