The New Brunswick Medical Society and Elementary Literacy Inc. have teamed up to promote literacy in doctor’s offices across the province.
The RX for Reading program will try to encourage parents to read with their children for at least 20 minutes a day.
Elementary Literacy Inc. executive director Erin Schryer says doctors who ask for a pad will be able to write literacy prescriptions.
“The idea is that when physicians are meeting with parents and caregivers of children, that they will talk to them about the importance of reading and give them a prescription pad,” she notes.
Schryer says the literacy prescription gives parents some tips on what you can do when reading with your children and why it’s important.
Canada’s Public Health Agency says those with low literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed, suffer poor health and have a shorter lifespan.
