The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Reach Out and Read helps curb summer slump
MIDDLETOWN » For children, summer is a time for relaxation and fun. Long days are spent hanging out with friends and family and soaking up the sun. However, for many children from low-income families, summer may not seem as quite as bright.
During summer break, many children lose critical academic skills, especially in reading and writing. This disproportionately affects students from low-income families, who can, on average, lose up to two months of grade-level equivalency in reading during the summer. This achievement gap quickly adds up, leaving low-income youth less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.
Literacy is a major and mounting concern in the United States, as 32 million adults are illiterate, and 50 percent of adults are unable to read at an eighth-grade reading level. In Connecticut, 45 percent of fourthgraders failed to meet the English/Language Arts achievement levels in the Smarter Balanced Assessment for 2015, which is a major concern, as the fourth grade is a benchmark year where students go from learning to read to reading to learn.
To combat this issue, the Women’s Initiative at the Middlesex United Way has made a determined effort to grant funding to nonprofits making a difference in our community. The Women’s Initiative is able to fund deserving programs thanks to the generosity of the Women’s Initiative members and community members who support the group through attending fundraisers throughout the year, such as the Power of the Purse.
One of those programs which receive funding is Reach Out and Read, a national network made up of a national center, 28 regional or statewide affiliates, and more than 5,800 program sites, which promote the Women’s Initiative’s mission of supporting parents and children by ensuring they have the resources necessary for children’s healthy development.
The Middlesex United Way envisions a community where children are ready to learn by school entry and reading at grade level by the end of third grade — so this program is close to our heart.
For over 28 years, Reach Out and Read has worked to help all children enter school on a level playing field by engaging parents to read more often with their infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Reach Out and Read Connecticut specifically achieves this by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.
Each time a pediatrician sees a patient, he or she “prescribes” an appropriate book and guides parents on reading with the child daily. This program provides young children in at-risk homes the opportunity and tools to build their literacy and oral language skills earlier and become better prepared for school.
The Women’s Initiative and Reach Out and Read are jointly committed to giving all children the opportunity to achieve their full potential — cognitively, emotionally, socially and physically — throughout Middlesex County.
If you would like to learn more about the work being done by Reach Out and Read Connecticut or for program locations, please visit reachoutandread.org/connecticut.