>U.VA. TO LAUNCH LITERACY PROGRAM FOR PRESCHOOLERS
>
>	The University of Virginia's Hospital Education Program and
>Department of Pediatrics will kick off a new program, Reach Out and
Read, on
>Thursday, December 3rd to promote early literacy in preschool children.
> From 8 to 9 a.m., Dr. Perri Klass, national medical director for
>Reach Out and Read, will introduce the program during Grand Rounds in
the
>Camp Heart Auditorium. From 10:30 to 11a.m., Dave Cupp, news director
and
>anchor of WVIR-TV 29, will share books with children in the Primary
Care
>Center waiting room and demonstrate proper reading techniques to
parents. At
>noon, Klass will train pediatric residents in how to counsel parents
about
>literacy.
>	Reach Out and Read is a national program in which pediatricians
>discuss literacy development with parents just as they discuss the
child's
>physical development. "Through this program, we hope to teach parents
that
>reading aloud to a child can help that child learn to read earlier,
which in
>turn can lead to greater success in school," said Dr. Linda
>Waggoner-Fountain, assistant professor of pediatrics at U.Va.
>	As part of the program, U.Va. pediatricians will discuss the
>progression of literacy skills with parents during well-child checkups,
and
>children ages four months through five years will be given an
>age-appropriate book to take home.
>
>Note: If you plan to cover, please call the Media Relations Office at
>(804)924-5679.
>
>###
>
>December 1, 1998
>
>For more information, call Dr. Linda Waggoner-Fountain, assistant
professor
>of pediatrics at U.Va., at (804)982-1925 or Linda Drake, the U.Va.
>coordinator for Reach Out and Read, at (804)924-0214.