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Fathers in Kosciusko County will have a chance to share their reading skills with children in the community during the "Dads Reach Out and Read" program Nov. 12 to 17.
The program will feature "high-profile" dads from the area reading each evening, Monday through Thursday, at Warsaw Community Public Library, said Brenda Rigdon, executive director of Kosciusko Literary Services, one of the program's sponsors.
Signed up to read so far are: Allyn Decker, John Fruth, Anthony Garza, Terry Julien, Kenneth Kelly, Benjamin Navarro, Dan Pacheco, Clint Pletcher, Randy Polston, Jay Rigdon, Aaron Rovenstine and Chuck Waggoner.
Sandra Frush, director of the Mental Health Association, said each dad will read for an hour. Readings will take place at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. each evening, and one hour each night will feature a father reading in Spanish.
Frush said she suggested that the program involve fathers because "I wanted to see fathers take a bigger role, instead of leaving it up to the mothers. I wanted to encourage other men by setting examples. ... I'd like to see mothers play ball outside with their kids and I'd like to see dads read to their kids."
Children who are read to, Rigdon said, have a distinct advantage when they begin school. "It affects every part of their school experience - sitting, listening, attention, vocabulary," she said.
Dads Reach Out and Read is part of KLS' new emphasis on family literacy, Rigdon said.
In Kosciusko County, as across the nation, one of five adults cannot read beyond the third-grade level, she said. "After the third grade, teachers have so much else to teach they can't concentrate on reading."
If parents are encouraged and taught how to read to their children, Frush said, not only does it develop an interest in books and reading at an early age, but it also strengthens the bond between parents and child.
Part of the KLS family literacy program includes providing a children's book, in either English or Spanish, to each baby born at Kosciusko Community Hospital, Rigdon said, "so that every child leaves the hospital with a book."
Parents who can't afford to buy their children books can borrow them at the library, Rigdon said, and the program also encourages grandparents to read to their grandchildren and take them to the library.
Even single parents who work more than one job and are pressed for time can find a few minutes to read to their kids, Rigdon said. "Make reading a part of the tucking-in ritual at bedtime. It not only teaches them the importance of reading, it establishes a bedtime ritual, calms them down at the end of the day and creates bonding time."
Dads Reach Out and Read is sponsored by KLS, Head Start, Child Abuse Prevention Council, Mental Health Association, B.A.B.E. and WCPL.
