Rep. Biggert Reads at DG Peds

Representative Judy Biggert (IL-13) visited Downers Grove Pediatrics to practice what doctors preach by reading to a group of youngpatients.  Pediatricians and nurses at the site are sending families home from checkups with free books and a very important prescription – “read aloud to your children.”

Downers Grove Pediatrics participates in Reach Out and Read, a program that prepares America’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together.  Reach Out and Read’s medical providers advise parents about the importance of reading aloud and give free books to children at checkups from 6 months through 5 years of age.  Research proves that families served by Reach Out and Read read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten with stronger language skills and a six-month developmental edge.

Reach Out and Read launched its second annual Summer of a Million Books campaign to give a brand-new, age-appropriate book to one million children in need before International Literacy Day. Representative Biggert demonstrated her support for the campaign by handing out a brand-new book to each child in the Downers Grove Pediatrics waiting room.

“It’s wonderful to be part of opening up a young child’s mind to a whole new world of imagination and learning,” said Biggert, a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.  “By putting books in the hands of young children and encouraging reading at home, Reach Out and Read is helping to place kids on a developmental path that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.  I’m very grateful to Downers Grove Pediatrics for bringing this service into our community, and giving me this opportunity today to read the kids some of the same favorites I’ve read to my own children and grandchildren.”

The Summer of a Million Books campaign will provide one million families with the tools and the guidance they need to prepare their children to succeed in school.  We thank Congresswoman Biggert for her continued support of Reach Out and Read and for taking the time to read aloud to children at Downers Grove Pediatrics!

Reach Out and Read

www.reachoutandread.org

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