It’s never too early to start reading to children.
That was the message from Kyn Tolson, executive director, Read to Grow, a Branford-based nonprofit, who addressed a breakfast Tuesday (March 10) to kick off Read Across the Valley, an annual initiative to promote children’s literacy.
More than 90 educators, elected officials, and community members attended the event at Molto Bene Italian American Kitchen in Ansonia.
Studies have shown the importance of reading to infants. Tolson said a newborn’s brain is one-fourth the size of an adult brain, but it is much more active.
In the first six months babies are learning syntax and semantics, she said, and it is important for parents and caregivers to understand that in the early years, “silence is not golden.”
Tolson said adults need to “talk with, and not talk at a child,” because that is how they learn language.
Part of Read to Grow’s mission is “behavior modification of parents,” Tolson said.
The key to early childhood literacy is connections. The first connection is between a baby and a parent, she said. The next is between a family and the community, and the third is between the community and society.
Tolson said promoting reading development in young children costs little for a family or society as a whole. She said encouraging reading doesn’t take a lot of money, it takes attitude.
“Read, read, read to children,” she said.
In the last 15 years Read to Grow has distributed more than 1.25 million books to children throughout Connecticut, she said.
Tolson quoted children’s author Dr. Seuss: “You’re never too old, too wacky or wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.”
Read Across the Valley is an initiative of the Valley Early Childhood Task Force, part of the Valley Council for Health and Human Services.
Pamela Lorenzo, chairwoman, Early Childhood Task Force of the Valley Council for Health and Human Services, said she found it “amazing” how much the initiative has grown since its inception.
“Seven years ago the task force came up with the idea to put an emphasis on early reading,” Lorenzo said.
“We were seeing that more and more children were entering preschool so we wanted to make sure they came prepared and were exposed to reading at an earlier age. Our thoughts were to get legislators, municipal leaders, superintendents, nonprofits, etc. involved in showing the importance to our Valley families of early literacy,” she said.
Lorenzo said Read Across the Valley is always held in Dr. Seuss’ birthday month.
“In seven years we have grown to close to 100 (breakfast) attendees and more than 90 readers,” she said. “Those involved in our special day, like the legislators and superintendents, have a vested interest in early literacy because our children are our future and the better prepared they are they better they will succeed in school and life.”
Breakfast attendees visited Valley preschools, day care centers, and elementary school classrooms to read to children. Lorenzo said this year students from Derby and Shelton high schools also participated in reading to young children.
