YELL EDITION: CHILDREN LIKE BEING READ TO

You've just worked an eight-hour shift that felt more like 12, and your 4-year-old child has met you at the door with the book you read to him twice last night. What do you do?

According to a local childhood educator and a librarian, you take a deep breath. Then you read the book.

"You need to do it right then because you want them to develop a love for reading and books," said Janice Jones, early childhood coordinator with Educare.

Betty Martin, director of the Cape Girardeau Public Library, agreed. Young children are very active and may not even sit still after they ask a parent to read to them, but that doesn't mean they aren't listening, she said.

"That doesn't mean they're not taking in what's going on in their surroundings," Martin said. "Children actually hear and understand a lot more than we give them credit for."

Since 1991, the Southeast Missourian has coordinated the publishing and distribution of a special newspaper dedicated to promoting literacy. The 1998 YELL, or Youth Education Literacy and Learning, campaign will get under way Sept. 15. Volunteers in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City will man street corners at about 6 o'clock that morning and hawk special-edition newspapers until they run out.

Jones said when parents read to and in front of their children they send the message that literacy is important. If they don't understand the importance of reading and respecting books, children won't do as well in life, she said.

"Children mimic parents a lot, so it's important they develop a love for books early on," she said. "I don't think you can make it without reading."

Martin and Jones said children develop an extensive vocabulary by listening to their parents when reading. Once they enter school, this vocabulary will help them associate meanings to words and pictures, which can improve their command of reading to themselves.

"Children who are good readers usually have been read to a lot," said Jones. "Young children are hearing those words and making connections in their brains. The more that they've been read to, the more they'll know about the world around them."

The YELL newspapers sell for $2 and include a comic book, a regular issue of the Southeast Missourian and a special contest.

Funds generated by YELL will be used by the newly formed YELL Foundation to provide grants to schools and other educational programs throughout the year that promote literacy and citizenship. The event also funds the Newspapers In Education program, which provides area teachers with free newspapers to aid in classroom instruction.

One of the most popular features of the YELL paper are the stories from community leaders about why and what they like to read. This year readers of all ages are invited to send in personal essays telling about their favorite books, what they read to their children and why, and other literacy topics.

YOU CAN PARTICIPATE

Readers are invited to send in personal essays about their favorite books, what they read to children and why, and other literacy topics. The essays will be included in the YELL edition of the Southeast Missourian on Sept. 15. To submit an essay, contact Joni Adams, care of the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699.