The card lists important numbers for families with children, including AHMYouth Services, the Family Resource Center at Thienes-Hall Elementary and the Birth to'Three Program, an agency that provides assistance to families with infants with learing disabilities. Giannini said she got the idea from a similar program in Enfield. Marlborough Board of Education Chairman Jim Cherry, a high school chemistry teacher in the Enfield school system, was involved in the project from its beginning. It gets the children reading sooner and helps to keep special education classes smaller. Jim Loomis, a clinical psychologist and manager of Child and Family Support Services at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, said that research indicates that reading to children early is one of the stronger predictors of school performance.
Early reading is important.
Loomis said there has been a push by local school districts recently to begin such programs. Even the medical center has an early reader program. Loomis said one of the biggest problems for early reading is the television, because it often takes away from time children should be reading. Parents'busy schedules can also be a problem when it comes to reading to a child. Giannini tries to track births in town as best she can.