California Campaign Touts Benefits of Reading to Small Children

The state’s First 5 commission produced 30-second TV spots encouraging parents to read, talk and sing more to their young children.

Doctor Richard Pan chairs the Assembly Health Committee. He says interaction is an important part of child development.

“Certainly as a pediatrician, when I talk to parents, we talk about how important it is engage,” says Pan. “We talk about how important it is to connect with young children.”

Lower income children are reportedly read to much less than more affluent children. Assemblymember Roger Dickinson says about 70 percent of brain development happens in those crucial first three years.

 “If a child is not reading at third grade level by the time they’re in third grade, the chance are they will never catch up.”

The legislature is considering a range of early childhood development bills including universal pre-school for four-year-olds and state funded daycare for babies and toddlers.