Reach Out and Read in the Olean area is a partnership program of the ROR National Center, Olean Public Library, Pediatric Associates of Olean and Salamanca, and Olean Medical Group. The mission is to make literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading.
ROR trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading to a child and provides a new book at each well visit a child makes to his or her pediatrician from age six months to five years.
The Olean area partnership was begun in 1999 with start-up money from the ROR National Center and the New York State Parent and Child Services Program.
Few activities create a warmer relationship between parents and children than reading aloud. Read to your baby and continue reading together as your child grows. Make it a part of your family life.
Our goals are:
- to encourage families to read and share books with even the youngest of family members.
- to provide families with books specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers.
- to encourage families to make use of the wealth of books, materials and services available at the Olean Public Library and other local libraries.
- to provide parents with an understanding of the importance of reading and being read to in their child's intellectual development and readiness for school.
Developmental Milestones of Early Literacy
Tips for Raising a Reader | Reading Aloud Tips for Parents
Pediatric Healthcare, a full service pediatric practice specializing in complete health care for your child, 4039 Rt. 219, Suite 103, Salamanca NY 14779.
We are please to be involved as partners in a program designed to bring parents, children, and books together. We wish to stress the importance of your role as your child's first teacher. Recent scientific evidence indicates that critical intellectual development occurs during the first years of life and that reading, talking, and singing to children directly affects their brain growth. A U.S. Department of Education survey shows that regularly reading aloud to children constitutes the single most important factor in preparing them to read themselves.
The Olean Medical Group is Olean's oldest and largest multi-specialty group, providing the community with quality health care since 1948. Currently we have 37 providers, 24 specialties and 4 sites. Our main office, located at 535 Main Street, houses our Family Practice, Pediatric, and Obstetrics and Gynecology practices; all of which are actively participating in Reach Out and Read.
We are proud to be involved in this exciting national pediatric literacy program. CEO John Weir says, “The link between literacy and general health has been well documented for years. We hope our program not only promotes literacy itself, but promotes a healthier community for decades to come.” We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the Olean Public Library in coordinating this effort for the benefit of our patients and in offering a prescription for success. Reading is a healthy habit to develop in your child.
Tips for Raising a Reader
- Read to your children daily
- Read to a young baby only a few minutes at a time. As your child gets older reading time can increase.
- Talk to your children
- Use the language. Answer even endless questions with more than a yes or no.
- Recite rhymes and sing songs with your children
- Rhymes and songs help develop your child's ear for the language.
- Have books and reading material available
- Have lots of different kinds of material available to read, all over the house.
- Buy your children books
- What you value your child will value.
- Be a model
- If parents read, children read.
- Take your children to the library
- Its free.
- Encourage reading and language related activities
- Write letters together. Read directions, recipes, road signs and menus with your children. Listen to audio tapes of books.
- Be selective about television and video games
Reading Aloud Tips for Parents
- Make reading part of every day
- Read at bedtime or on the bus.
- Have fun
- Children who love books learn to read. Books can be part of special time with your child.
- A few minutes is OK
- Young children can only sit for a few minutes for a story, but as they grow, they will sit longer.
- Talk about the pictures
- You do not have to read the book to tell a story.
- Let your child turn the pages
- Babies need board books and help to turn pages, but your three year-old can do it alone.
- Show your child the cover page
- Explain what the story is about.
- Show your child the words
- Run your finger along the words as you read them.
- Make the story come alive
- Create voices for the story characters and use your body to tell story.
- Ask questions about the story
- What do think will happen next? What is this?
- Let your child ask questions about the story
- Use the story as an opportunity to engage in conversation and to talk about familiar activities and objects.
- Let your child tell the story
- Children as young as three years old can memorize a story and many children love an opportunity to express their creativity.
Give the Gift of Reading to a Child
Honor someone special with a donation to the Reach Out and Read partnership of ROR National Center, the Olean Public Library, Pediatric Associates of Olean and Salamanca, and the Olean Medical Group.
Your gift will be acknowledged with a gift card to the honoree and will provide books to support the ROR program.
Do You Know
- The single most important factor in a child becoming a successful reader is having been read to regularly by a parent?
- When a child’s pediatrician prescribes reading a parent is 4 to 8 times more likely to read to the child, and that children have 13 well-child visits with their pediatrician by age five?
- The average cost of a ROR book is $3.50?
You can help support the continuation of this project by providing books to be distributed by area pediatricians.
Olean Area Reach Out and Read T-shirt
Support the Olean Area Reach Out and Read program with the purchase of a ROR T-shirt. All proceeds support the book-fund for the ROR programs at the Olean Medical Group and Pediatric Associates of Olean and Salamanca. Short sleeve gray T-Shirts, with the Reach Out and Read logo, are available in sizes Child LG, Adult S, Adult M, Adult L, and Adult XL for $13.00 each and Adult 2X and 3X for $15.00 each. There is a $3.50 shipping charge for the first T-shirt and $1.00 for each additional shirt shipped to the same address. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. |
 Derek and Dr. Srinivas Thandla of Salamanca Pediatric Associates. |
For more information:
| Reach Out and Read National Center |
Some books used in this program were provided at a discount from Wal-Mart of Olean, NY.
This program is funded in part by the Parent and Child Library Services grant program through the New York State Library Services Division of the State Education Department.