Sara L. Snyder, assistant professor of anthropology and sociology at WCU and director of the Cherokee Language Program
By Kathleen O. Brown
In an effort to encourage early reading in children and help preserve the Cherokee language, Reach Out and Read North Carolina is expanding access to culturally relevant children’s books by introducing new titles written in the Cherokee language and including Cherokee syllabary at primary care clinics across the region. Developed in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and local community partners, the books are being shared with families at primary care clinics serving Cherokee children in Western North Carolina.
In January, the nonprofit celebrated the launch during a ᏗᏗᎪᎵᏯ Didigoliya! (Let’s Read!) event at the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority’s Pediatric Clinic.
“Pediatric care is a trusted space where families build habits that shape a child’s future,” says Casey Cooper, CEO of Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority’s Pediatric Clinic. “Partnering with Reach Out and Read and working with the Cherokee Language Program at Western Carolina University has allowed us to share books that honor Cherokee language and culture while helping families connect, read together and support their children’s growth from the very beginning.” The titles are being introduced during well-child visits, where clinicians offer families books and guidance on shared reading and early language development in a trusted, familiar setting.
Staff members at the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority’s pediatric clinic
Reach Out and Read currently partners with three North Carolina tribal clinical sites serving Cherokee families, including the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority’s Pediatric Clinic, which has participated in Reach Out and Read for more than 21 years. Across these sites, primary care providers complete more than 750 well-child visits each year.
“One of the most exciting things for us to think about is how our books are utilized in well visits and can be a beautiful point of connectivity,” says Callee Boulware, Reach Out and Read regional director for the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. “It gives parents a way to connect with their child and also a critical way for children and families to connect with who they are. Cultural affirmation and feeling proud about yourself is an important part of how people develop. We have tremendous champions in Cherokee, and thought we had a really cool opportunity to ensure we were honoring the Cherokee language and being a community partner to help preserve that.”
Reach Out and Read plans to continue working in partnership with the Cherokee community and Cherokee language leaders to develop additional children’s books that are culturally aligned and written by Cherokee authors, Boulware says. The effort reflects a shared commitment to supporting language preservation, family connection and early development through stories that reflect Cherokee children and families.
Reach Out and Read North Carolina is part of the national Reach Out and Read nonprofit which was founded more than 35 years ago. Its mission is to give young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. According to Reach Out and Read, 80 percent of a child’s brain growth occurs before the age of 3, yet 66 percent of children growing up in low-income households are not read to daily.
Pediatric primary care providers who participate in the program give every child from age 6 months through 5 years a new developmentally appropriate book to take home and keep. Once in the exam room, primary care clinicians trained in the developmental strategies of early literacy encourage parents to read aloud to their young children and offer age-appropriate tips.
In addition to sharing books and encouraging reading, doctors also are able to use books as a tool to assess a child’s development. The model has proven to be effective, Boulware says, since pediatric wellness visits are one of the only universal touchpoints for children and because there is a special relationship of trust between families and primary care providers.
Healthcare providers’ support of and interest in Reach Out and Read also is demonstrated by the fact that there is an extensive waiting list of doctors in North Carolina who want to participate, Boulware says. Currently, Reach Out and Read North Carolina’s footprint involves more than 416 clinical sites with more than 850,000 well visits every year, she says.
Encouraging the reading of books in this digital age is “less of a discussion of screen time and more about how young children’s brains are not set up to learn that way at that age,” she says. “It must be done in a relational, tactile way and it must be done in relation to someone who cares for them.”
Reach Out and Read serves children in every state in the US and is the only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Learn more about Reach Out and Read North Carolina at RORCarolinas.org.
