McCormack Matthews Head Start Center

McCormack Matthews Head Start Center
6930 N. Kerby Avenue
Portland, OR 97217

 

Beginning April 11, 2007, on every other Wednesay from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., 10 Head Start children stop by Holland & Knight's open doors to have a n hour of reading and fun.

Volunteers meet the children in the Weiss conference room where the children pick out a book. The book that the child selects will become his or her book to take home. The volunteer and child then find a comfortable place to sit and read together. Healthy snacks are served after everyone has finished reading.

Studies have shown that this form of interaction with the children, reading and giving books for the home, has improved outcomes in young children at risk. Young children living in poverty are less likely to be read to every day by a family member than are children living at or above the poverty line. In 2005, 50 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds in families below the poverty line were read to every day, compared with 60 percent of children at 100-199% poverty and 65 percent of children at 200% poverty and above. The act of placing the book in the home improves the chance that it will be read to the child - and the act of OUR reading the book to the child makes 100% certain that the child will have the experience.