Child Development Newsletters                                         

Baby Talk (In March, 2007, the name "Baby Talk" was changed to "Raising Readers in Story County.") created three publications to share highlights of child development in the first three years, based on the curriculum of Baby TALK in Decatur, Illinois. The first newsletter is given in the Books for Babies gift bag at the hospital. At that time, families sign up for Raising Readers benefits, and the other two are mailed to families when their children are three months and fifteen months of age.
  

Parent Survey and Developmental Chart

 

Physicians give this 8 x 10 early literacy hand-out to parents at the 6 month well-child check-up. On one side it has parent survey questions approved by American Academy of Pediatricians. The other side has motor and cognitive milestones and what parents can do, provided by Reach Out and Read of Boston Medical Center.
  

Read to Babies & Toddlers

 

This half-page hand-out is given to parents by physicians and by preschool teachers. One side describes how to read effectively to children, based on Reach Out and Read material. The other side tells why the first 3 years are an optimal time for brain development, quoting “I Am Your Child.”
  

Resource Notebooks

  • “Dear Parents . . . Kids Who Read Succeed”

Copies of this 3-ring binder notebook are available to parents in pediatric and primary care physician waiting rooms and examination rooms. They are also placed in other community settings serving at risk families. This notebook contains information about the importance of talking and daily reading with children, local Baby Talk programs, and early literacy research.

Additional versions of the notebook were compiled that were tailored to the needs of other groups helping to improve early literacy.

  • “Dear Baby Talk Members . . . Kids Who Read Succeed”
  • “Dear Physicians . . . Kids Who Read Succeed”
  • “Dear Volunteers . . . Kids Who Read Succeed”
  • “Dear Community . . . Kids Who Read Succeed”
  
Articles