Feature Article November 12, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb Home Newborn Literacy KitsThe sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day So all we could do was to sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit. And then something went bump! How that bump made us jump!
As I sit typing this article with rain drizzling down my window, I feel a kinship with Sally and her brother, ready for The Cat in the Hat to step in on my mat too. Though I dont remember the first time I heard a Dr. Seuss story, I know I was young. When do stories, songs and poetry start to impact childrens lives?
A study by Anthony De Casper in North Carolina asked 33 pregnant women to read specific paragraphs to their unborn infants during the last trimester of pregnancy. Fifty-two hours after birth, these newborns were tested (through the strength of their sucking) as to whether or not they recognized the passages of stories they had heard read to them before birth. The research showed a distinct preference for passages the babies heard frequently before birth. Subsequent studies by De Casper and recent research by Queens University in Kingston continue to affirm that conditioning and generalized learning begin even before a baby is born.
The implication of research like this has spurred the Ontario Government to support the development of Newborn Literacy Kits. These kits are free to parents who have had a new baby after January 2003, and include a video called Precious Minds which explains how parents can encourage early literacy and language development, and an audiotape or CD called A Smooth Road to London Town which is filled with rhymes and songs to share with young children. Award-winning childrens author and illustrator, Barbara Reid, has written a book specifically for inclusion in this kit called Read Me A Book. The kit also includes a passport to keep track of immunization records, babys height and weight etc., child development information brochures and a fridge magnet.
These Newborn Literacy Kits are available through the cooperative efforts of Health Units and Ontario Early Years Centres. If you have recently had a new baby, you will be receiving a Newborn Literacy Kit Coupon through a home visit by the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program or by mail. The coupon is to be used to redeem your Newborn Literacy Kit at the Ontario Early Years Centre or its Satellites. Parents living a distance from the Early Years Centres are encouraged to call the site closest to them to determine the easiest way to receive their kit:
The Ontario Early Years Centre, The Child Centre at (613) 279-2244 (if living in Frontenac County)
The Ontario Early Years Satellite, Lennox & Addington Resources for Children at (613) 354-6318 (if living in Lennox & Addington County)
The Ontario Early Years Satellite, North Hastings Childrens Services, (613) 332-0179 (if living in Denbigh)
Start your child early on the road to learning and fun.
