Lynn children celebrate reading

LYNN – Isaac Mendez is 3 years old and not quite reading yet, but he held on tightly to his book throughout the Lynn Community Health Center’s Reach Out and Read celebration Thursday.”I like to read,” said Isaac’s older brother, Danny, 10. “I like to read all kinds of books, and sometimes I read to my brothers.”The Mendez brothers, seven altogether, came to celebrate reading along with Early Education and Care Commissioner Tom Weber, who sat with the kids and read two stories.Reach Out and Read is a national initiative that weaves parent education about children’s literacy and books for kids into pediatric primary care. The health center has been giving away books to children and providing literacy guidance for parents since 1996.”Reach Out and Read was started by two pediatricians 20 years ago,” said Clare Hayes, who coordinates the center’s program.Hayes said they knew then that reading to and teaching children to read was vital.”So when you went to your doctor’s appointment, you got a book,” she said.Brian Gallagher, executive director of Reach Out and Read, said it’s since been determined that reading and even talking about reading is essentially part of primary care. The doctors who started Reach Out and Read were determined to tackle literacy doctor by doctor and book by book. Today there are almost 300 clinical locations and 1,500 participating medical providers across the commonwealth and over 20,000 medical providers that participate in the program nationally.”And it all started here in Massachusetts,” he added.Bob Dempkowski, LCHC’s deputy director, said the children who were the first recipients of some of those books are probably filling out college applications now. He also highlighted the importance of reading in his family.When his son was very young, he asked his mother about what it meant to be homeless, Dempkowski said.”He had three questions, where do homeless people sleep, where do homeless people eat and where do they keep their books?” Dempkowski said. “Reading was certainly fundamental in our family, and I think it is for most.”Weber said 85 percent of a child’s brain is formed by age 5, so their capacity to learn is set, which is why reading, singing and just talking with a child in those first five years is very important.He also said there have been studies that show children as young as 18 months can have thousands of word gaps, which is yet another reason why reading is important.Speaking to the more than a dozen parents gathered at the Lynn WIC Program office, which hosted the event, Weber urged them to read with their children.”The highlight of my day is reading to my children,” he said. “It’s usually the most fun part of my day.”