North Central Health District

Reading Corner Piloted at Macon DFACS WIC Office

Posted June 8, 2017 by Michael Hokanson

Georgia’s Talk with me Baby (TWMB) aims to encourage parents to talk to their children. TWMB also focuses on providing early language exposure to babies. Health Departments and WIC clinics across the district are currently showing a DVD that explains the importance of talking and reading to children.

Our efforts continue to promote the Talk With Me Baby campaign. A reading corner is being piloted at the Macon DFACS WIC office as a way to encourage parents to read to their children. Kids and parents are able to select books from the book bin and read together while receiving WIC services. Children are able to choose between a variety of books – parents are encouraged to follow the child’s lead to encourage their interest in books. We are getting a lot of positive feedback from the pilot and hope to provide reading corners in other WIC sites in the near future. Additional information can be found on the TWMB initiative website.

Eligible WIC patients are also signed up for the Ferst Foundation reading and book program. From this partnership, families receive a new book in the mail every month to read to their children. Families in Bibb, Putnam, and Monroe counties have signed up to participate in this joint venture and are already receiving books in the mail.

Other ways WIC is encouraging reading to children is through the 1,000 Books B4 Kindergarten initiative of the Georgia Public Libraries Service. Families that sign up for this exciting program receive a reading log to log stories, songs and read-along with their children before they enter kindergarten. For every one-hundred books milestone a child reaches they can go to their local library to receive incentives and prizes. When the child has completed 1,000 Books they are honored at a graduation at the Washington Main Library in Macon, GA. This program encourages families to come into the library with completed logs, and also by signing up, families are informed by email and mailed newsletters about exciting reading programs and events at their library. The logs are currently being distributed at WIC clinics and counties in the Middle Georgia Regional Library Group. Participating counties are Bibb, Crawford, Jones, and Twiggs counties. For more information about 1,000 Books B4 Kindergarten you can visit the Middle Georgia Regional Library page.

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