The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center is a federally qualified health center committed to providing affordable, quality, and culturally sensitive healthcare. Reaching a large community of Chinese immigrants and everyday New Yorkers, I highlighted the services and programs offered at the health center and wrote educational content to help patients and readers make informed health decisions.
In the pediatrics exam rooms at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, there are bins of books readily available for children and parents to read while they wait for their pediatrician.
For children less than 6 years old, tucked away in our Chinatown and Flushing exam rooms lie brand new books that they can take home after their wellness visits. This is all possible thanks to the Reach Out and Read, a national program where pediatricians “prescribe” books and reading time to children as a way to promote early literacy.
Dr. Loretta Au, the chief of pediatrics at the Manhattan site of the Health Center brought Reach Out and Read to our patients in April of 2001. “What’s unique about having a literacy program at the Health Center is that we’re reaching a group of people who may not go or have direct access to a library. When they’re here, they’re exposed to the reading,” says Dr. Au. “The doctors are telling parents to read to their child the same way they are told to give healthy foods to their child. Reading is one of the things you do to bond with your child and promotes language [skills], even at an early age,” she adds.
Reading aloud to children beginning at birth helps them develop early language skills and prepare for school. Children learn vocabulary and concepts, such as numbers, counting, colors, comparisons and storytelling through exposure to books. However, some families may not have the knowledge, exposure, or time to introduce books, spark conversations or bond with their child.
Read the full story at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, originally published on June 20, 2018.