Bunnies will help parents read to children

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A program geared toward encouraging reading to children starting at an early age is in the planning stages.

Stephanie George, a teacher at Fort Scott Middle School and member of the Fort Scott Chapter of the Kansas National Education Association (FS-KNEA), said a new district-wide KNEA program called "Read to your Bunny" is expected to launch early in 2014, most likely in February.

"The FS-KNEA is starting it. We've got some local organizations to help with it," George said.

The idea for the initiative originated from Emporia's KNEA group. George said it has been proven that exposing children to reading at a young age can benefit them academically in their future school years.

"The purpose is to encourage parents to read to their children from the day they're born," she said. "The earlier they're exposed to books and vocabulary, the better they do in school. We want to get them started off on the right foot."

The belief is that early reading will impact the child's future learning, so parents are encouraged to read with children from birth onward, George said.

"Research has shown that the more and earlier they read, the better they do when they start school," she said.

For the last several years, FS-KNEA members have focused efforts specifically on ways to boost teacher morale, such as having monthly member appreciations. KNEA is now adding to that focus by working on community outreach efforts.

With the "Read to your Bunny" program, FS-KNEA members will put together a gift package that will be delivered to each baby born at Mercy Hospital Fort Scott.

"Our goal is to do 300 packets starting in February," George said, adding these packages will be given out throughout 2014. George said information she has obtained from Mercy indicates that about 300 babies are born each year at the local hospital.

"Hopefully, the material and stuffing will be donated; the big expense is the books," she said. "We'll work over the Christmas break and January."

FS-KNEA will work in conjunction with Mercy Hospital and other local groups, including the Fort Scott Rotary Club, in starting the program in the area.

Each packet will contain a book called "Read to your Bunny," a hand-sewn stuffed bunny and information related to reading to children at a young age, George said.

"The fabrics will be donated or purchased to make the bunnies. We'll stuff those and make bunnies," she said. "We'll pass those out to new babies born at the hospital."