Next Thursday, October 6, people across the country will attempt to break a world record to help raise awareness of America’s achievement gap.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record®, presented in partnership with Pearson Foundation, is a national campaign that mobilizes adults and children to close the early education achievement gap by setting a reading world record. This annual campaign allows Americans to demand that all children receive the quality early education they deserve.

This year, more than 2 millions voices will call for an end to America’s early education achievement gap by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney.

Take the pledge to be one of them today! Then, check back here on October 6 to learn how NCFL and Wonderopolis® are doing our part to help break this world record and raise awareness for quality education!

In North Carolina, a check on your children’s health can also provide them with food for thought – in the form of a new book.

Starting this year, the Reach Out and Read program has provided books to children in need by asking pediatricians to distribute them. The program’s regional director, Callee Boulware, says it helps children develop early reading and critical-thinking skills, with the goal of children entering school with a larger vocabulary and stronger language skills.

“Books are expensive, and if it’s going to be books or groceries, clearly it’s going to be groceries. So, what we find is that an enormous number of children living in poverty really have no books in their home.”

Reach Out and Read recently received a significant grant that will enable the program to add 20,000 children. It’s also expanding into western North Carolina, thanks to an additional grant from the Sisters of Mercy Foundation.

Books are distributed to children from 6 months through age 5, during well-check visits to participating pediatricians. Doctors incorporate the books into the exam by observing child behavior and explaining to parents the importance of reading.

Reach Out and Read goes beyond reading, Boulware says, because it increases the amount of interaction between parents and children.

“A lot of young children don’t get that talking face-to-face time like they need to get, and books are the perfect way to ease parents into that habit of sharing language with their child.”

Research from the program has found that when families participate in Reach Out and Read, parents are four times more likely to read to their children, and that children score higher on vocabulary tests and school readiness assessments. Nationwide, 3.9 million children are served by Reach Out and Read.

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