Many parents can still recite all of “Goodnight Moon” after reading it to their children at bedtime for months on end. Sharing stories with children helps prepare them to enter school ready to learn and strengthens family connections. But not all parents recognize the impact of reading and language on a child’s development. The objective of the “Reading for Healthy Families” project is to teach new parents about the value of reading to their children – even to babies and toddlers.
The state-funded Healthy Start program provides first-time, high-risk parents with home visits from a parent coach for up to three years. The program reaches families that don’t often seek out libraries and their services. Through “Reading for Healthy Families,” children’s librarians and Healthy Start family support workers from every county are trained on introducing early literacy concepts to high-risk families, with the goal of increasing family engagement around reading. The teams work together to develop strategies to reach isolated families and encourage their participation in library programs.
Project participants report that new parents are eager to learn about early literacy practices and also put their new skills into use. A family support worker said, “Despite being a single parent, full time student, and working part time, a client of mine has started taking her 10 month old son to baby story time every week after attending one with me.”
The three-year “Reading for Healthy Families” initiative is a partnership between the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Oregon State Library, local libraries, and Healthy Start. The Oregon Community Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation are co-funding this initiative.