Leyendo Juntos in Action: Holyoke

At the Holyoke Health Center, providers are using materials developed as part of Reach Out and Read's national Leyendo Juntos (Reading Together)  initiative, which was designed to help providers to encourage Spanish-speaking parents and extended family members to read to young children. New bilingual reading tips posters are now in exam rooms at the Center, where over 90% of patients are Hispanic/Latino. 

At a recent medical staff meeting, Dr. Stephanie Billings shared on-line video clips highlighting literacy experiences of Hispanic/Latino families in a Reach Out and Read Site. According to Dr. Billings, "Patients love seeing the Spanish posters and materials. They feel that the Reach Out and Read program caters to their needs. Many of our parents only read in Spanish and having a bilingual-bicultural waiting room makes them feel at home. The materials open communication between families and staff about books and reading in the home. We love the Leyendo Juntos material."

Leyendo Juntos materials include bilingual reading tips in a large-format bookmark and a bilingual reading tips poster. It also provides a Spanish Language Literacy Promotion Reference Guide, developed for Reach Out and Read providers who serve Hispanic/Latino families and who are familiar with but not necessarily fluent in Spanish. The handbook provides ideas and phrases to promote interaction with Spanish-speaking patients and families about books and reading aloud. If you would like to receive these materials for your Site, please contact Nora Murphy at nora.murphy@reachoutandread.org

U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) visited the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center on September 7, 2010, not only to cheer them on, but to practice what doctors preach by reading to a group of young patients.

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  A Warm Thanks!

Talent runs in families, and in the Minow/Singer family, so does generosity. Josephine Baskin Minow and her granddaughter, Mira Singer, both authors, have recently donated hundreds of copies of their books to Reach Out and Read.

Ms. Minow wrote Marty the Broken Hearted Artichoke, a tale of kindness and acceptance written in a lively rhyme, with the intent of assisting organizations working to make life better for all children.  This goal will be met when copies of her book are distributed throughout Massachusetts Reach Out and Read Programs.  Mira Singer, following in her grandmother's footsteps, has written a fantasy novel filled with adventure and magic perfect to lure adolescent patients into a book and away from their electronic diversions.

On behalf of the children who will receive these books, Reach Out and Read Massachusetts would like to thank authors, Josephine Baskin Minow and Mira Singer, and Martha Minow for contacting us, for making this generous donation possible! 

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