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| Media contacts: Alicia Sands Lurry, 404/616-6389, alurry@emory.edu |
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ATLANTA -- Ann Hazzard, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine and clinical psychologist at Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital of the Grady Health System, is leading an effort to better prepare children at Hughes Spalding for preschool. The literacy intervention program, known as "Focus On Four," is designed to introduce four-year-old children to letters, sounds and books while also pairing them and their families with volunteers for eight weeks. The program will target 30 families with pre-literacy activities and is scheduled to start in June. Dr. Hazzard, who also helped create the Hughes Spalding-based Ready, Set, Read! literacy program along with Emory pediatrician Dr. Terri McFadden in 1994, hopes this new program will reach those youngsters most at risk. The program will specifically focus on children with mild learning or language difficulties and those who lack exposure to books and early learning activities. Dr. Hazzard reported that a previous study conducted at Hughes Spalding found that many of the children’s parents were rarely read to when they were children. That is often a reason why many have not integrated reading into their children’s lives. "There are a lot of factors and stressors in low-income families that make children from those families more at risk for school failure, and often by the time a child gets to kindergarten or first grade, an important piece of their brain development has already occurred," Dr. Hazzard said. "If listening and hearing the language and words in books and getting excited about books hasn’t happened, it makes it much more challenging for children and their teachers in kindergarten and first grade. Pediatricians are the most natural professionals to intervene early and make contact with families. They can play a major role in early intervention by including this part of well-child care in comprehensive pediatric care." A screening instrument will be used to help identify four-year-old children in Hughes Spalding’s waiting rooms as they come to appointment clinics. Information gathered will help determine those children who are behind in their pre-literacy skills. Community volunteers will then meet with families once each week to read to children and engage in many preschool-type literacy activities. The program also aims to help parents enroll their children in preschool and obtain library cards. "This really emphasizes how Hughes Spalding is supporting and giving back to all of the communities it serves," said Renee Shields, coordinator of the Ready, Set, Read program. The "Focus on Four" program is sponsored in part by Hughes Spalding with support by the Tiger Woods Foundation, Chick-fil-A, Inc., the Community Foundation of Atlanta, and the Target Corporation. The Ready, Set, Read! program, which is designed to encourage parents to read with their children, currently provides free books to about 7,500 children ages six months to five years who visit Hughes Spalding’s pediatric clinics. Community volunteers of all ages are still needed for the Ready, Set, Read! program. For more information, or to become a volunteer, please contact Renee Shields at (404) 616-6050, or Anita Gardner, volunteer coordinator, at (404) 616-5581. The program also accepts new and gently used children’s books. ATLANTA -- Ann Hazzard, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine and clinical psychologist at Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital of the Grady Health System, is leading an effort to better prepare children at Hughes Spalding for preschool. The literacy intervention program, known as "Focus On Four," is designed to introduce four-year-old children to letters, sounds and books while also pairing them and their families with volunteers for eight weeks. The program will target 30 families with pre-literacy activities and is scheduled to start in June. Dr. Hazzard, who also helped create the Hughes Spalding-based Ready, Set, Read! literacy program along with Emory pediatrician Dr. Terri McFadden in 1994, hopes this new program will reach those youngsters most at risk. The program will specifically focus on children with mild learning or language difficulties and those who lack exposure to books and early learning activities. Dr. Hazzard reported that a previous study conducted at Hughes Spalding found that many of the children’s parents were rarely read to when they were children. That is often a reason why many have not integrated reading into their children’s lives. "There are a lot of factors and stressors in low-income families that make children from those families more at risk for school failure, and often by the time a child gets to kindergarten or first grade, an important piece of their brain development has already occurred," Dr. Hazzard said. "If listening and hearing the language and words in books and getting excited about books hasn’t happened, it makes it much more challenging for children and their teachers in kindergarten and first grade. Pediatricians are the most natural professionals to intervene early and make contact with families. They can play a major role in early intervention by including this part of well-child care in comprehensive pediatric care." A screening instrument will be used to help identify four-year-old children in Hughes Spalding’s waiting rooms as they come to appointment clinics. Information gathered will help determine those children who are behind in their pre-literacy skills. Community volunteers will then meet with families once each week to read to children and engage in many preschool-type literacy activities. The program also aims to help parents enroll their children in preschool and obtain library cards. "This really emphasizes how Hughes Spalding is supporting and giving back to all of the communities it serves," said Renee Shields, coordinator of the Ready, Set, Read program. The "Focus on Four" program is sponsored in part by Hughes Spalding with support by the Tiger Woods Foundation, Chick-fil-A, Inc., the Community Foundation of Atlanta, and the Target Corporation. The Ready, Set, Read! program, which is designed to encourage parents to read with their children, currently provides free books to about 7,500 children ages six months to five years who visit Hughes Spalding’s pediatric clinics. Community volunteers of all ages are still needed for the Ready, Set, Read! program. For more information, or to become a volunteer, please contact Renee Shields at (404) 616-6050, or Anita Gardner, volunteer coordinator, at (404) 616-5581. The program also accepts new and gently used children’s books. |