Heads Up Literacy Program

Description

The Heads Up! program serves children in the pediatric clinics who come from the ethnically diverse communities of Manhattan, as well as the surrounding boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Most of the children who receive their care in the pediatric clinic come from families that are economically disadvantaged. Children from these homes are at high risk for developmental delays in language development and are susceptible to reading failure. These problems, if left unmet, greatly increase a child's risk for school failure and decrease a child's opportunities for later social and economic development. The Heads Up! program gives parents of at-risk children the information, encouragement and materials they need to make books a part of their children's lives. The program integrates parent education about literacy development into the regularly scheduled well-child visits. Children from 6 months to five years of age--who represent the majority of the kids that we see--are reached even before they school system can begin to teach them.