Pediatricians help revive child literacy program in Pee Dee

Pee Dee pediatricians and activists have teamed up to rejuvenate a nationwide literacy program designed to create literacy-rich waiting rooms for children, in hopes of emphasizing the importance of reading at a young age.

Florence City Councilwoman Octavia Williams-Blake selected a program called Reach Out and Read as part of her work with the Liberty Fellowship program, which is designed to improve South Carolina by highlighting local community leaders.

The result has meant local pediatricians have offered up a free book to patients from 6 months to 5 years old to promote children’s literacy.

It’s a subject that Williams-Blake chose to tackle when her child entered kindergarten.

“I don’t think a lot of parents realize how important it is to read to their children,” she said. “The one place that you’re probably most engaged is when you’re taking your child to the doctor.”

Williams-Blake has worked with local pediatricians, including in Dr. Karen Hill, a pediatrician with McLeod Pediatric Associates of Florence.

Hill gives out books at regular well-visit checkups for her patients, and she said handing her patients a book is a good opportunity to measure parent-child interaction and ask questions about intellect and language skills.

“You almost always hand the book to the child to see what they do,” Hill said. “You can talk to the parent about ‘oh, see, they’re already interested in the book,’ … and just explain to the parent the importance of reading to them every day.”

One of those patients, 18-month-old Jayden Johnson, met with Hill on Wednesday and received a free book.

Jayden’s mother, Latoya Shilow, said his three older siblings and the reading program have influenced his interest in reading.

“I try to read to him, too, because every time (his siblings) pick up a book he picks up one, too,” she said. “Everything they do, he wants to do.”

Williams-Blake said she noticed that when children come for their checkup, their siblings often also want to get a book, so she’s set out to raise $5,000 to help maximize the program’s potential.

Dr. Weave Whitehead, also a pediatrician with McLeod Pediatric Associates, said his practice has been involved with the program for more than a decade.

“This works because of pediatricians that are involved in it,” he said. “We see the difference; we see the child’s face light up when they get that book.”

Whitehead said his office has been literacy-friendly for years, and his practice also takes donations of gently-used books that can be given to children when they are sick.

Williams-Blake said it costs about $3,500 to transform a waiting room into being more literacy-friendly and pediatricians have to complete a training session to support the program.

“This issue crosses socio-economic lines, race lines. This is not about being poor, rich, being black, being white: all children need to be ready for school,” she said.

Reach Out and Read has about 250 programs across the Carolinas and began in 1989.

To find out more about the program or to donate to local initiatives, visit www.reachoutandread.org.