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Read and Grow with PCAA!
Getting books from the doctor will now be a routine part of regular well-baby and well-child pediatric checkups at Primary Care Associates of Appleton, as we welcome the Reach Out and Read program to our practice. PCAA is joining nearly 5,000 program sites nationwide (160 sites in Wisconsin) that are preparing America’s youngest children to succeed in school.
Primary Care Associates of Appleton will be utilizing the Reach Out and Read’s three-part model to promote early literacy. This includes:
1. Giving every child 6 months through 5 years old a new, developmentally-appropriate children's book to take home and keep.
2. In the exam room, our Family Medicine providers will speak with parents about the importance of reading aloud to their young children every day. (Bonus: each book comes with a special age-appropriate bookmark that offers tips and encouragement for reading to your child.)
3. Our waiting rooms will offer literacy resources, information from the Appleton Public Library, and children's books to read together while you're waiting, all in an effort to create a literacy-rich environment.
The end goal of Reach Out and Read is to prepare all children to enter kindergarten ready to read, learn, and succeed. During the preschool years, children served by Reach Out and Read score three to six months ahead of their non-Reach Out and Read peers on vocabulary tests. These foundational language skills help start children on a path of success when they enter school. And did you know that literacy level, not income, is the strongest predictor of health outcomes in adults? The Reach Out and Read model is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In Wisconsin alone, almost 82,000 children have been served to date, with over 144,000 books distributed annually.
“We at Primary Care Associates of Appleton are excited to start this program at our practice. Through a grant from the United Way Fox Cities and with the support of the Appleton Public Library, we have been able to launch this program,” said Dr. Amy Servais, Family Medicine physician at PCAA. “We are delighted to have this opportunity to support our patients and our community."
To learn more about the national Reach Out and Read program, please go to www.reachoutandread.org or visit our Reach Out and Read website page here.