Your Child's Pediatrician May Be Able To Provide Literacy Screenings

"When you come in at age 3 for your regular checkup, we're doing all the things you normally do in the doctor's office. So we're checking your physical health, we're giving you any vaccinations you need, any laboratory evaluation. But now what we're doing is we're also using a book to do literacy-based screener with your child."

"What we say when we're doing these screenings is that we almost see, like, a lightbulb or an aha moment go off in a lot of these parents when they're really first starting to understand, wow, I should be doing this with my child before kindergarten."

Pediatric centers are implementing literacy screenings for children as young as 3 years old in response to a nationwide decline in reading proficiency. During regular checkups, pediatricians assess physical health and vaccinations while also evaluating early literacy skills using books. This approach has led to positive reactions from parents, who often experience an 'aha moment' regarding the importance of early literacy development. The initiative aims to encourage parents to engage in literacy activities with their children before they enter kindergarten.

Read at www.npr.org