Mansfield Independent School District, Mansfield Sunrise Rotary Club, and Methodist Mansfield Medical Center help boost literacy education through the Read to Me infant book program.
Newborns at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center will receive a free colorful book for reading aloud, presented in a fashionable carrying bag. Methodist Mansfield hopes the books will foster a life-long love for reading and promote the importance of reading together.
Reading aloud to children is easy, fun, and a great way to build early literacy skills. It teaches a baby about communication, builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills, and introduces numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way.
Research shows that the more children hear stories read aloud and the more words they're exposed to, the more likely they are to have improved language and speaking skills. Babies whose parents frequently talk and read to them know more words by age 2 than children who have not been read to.
When children hear parents using many different emotions and expressive sounds, it promotes social and emotional development. And language skills improve when babies imitate sounds, recognize images, and learn words.
But perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that it makes a connection between the parent and child.
To make a donation to the Read to Me program, visit the Methodist Health System Foundation.