Clinics

A Ma Baie Well Baby Clinic

A bilingual team of educators visits the monthly A Ma Baie Well Baby clinic of the Pierrefonds CLSC. There they meet with families and give each newborn a bag of age appropriate books in either French or English depending on the language of the family. If an older sibling is present, he or she is encouraged to pick a book from a supply of books for older children. In the process of meeting with each family, the importance of daily reading is discussed, questions are answered, and story reading is modeled. An average of 100 bookbags are distributed to newborns each year depending on the number of births.

Cloverdale Multi-Ressources

In 2004 - 2005 the clinic program was expanded to include working with Cloverdale Multi-Ressources which serves the families in eastern Pierrefonds. There le gout de lire | born to read volunteers have provided books for the Visiting Mother program, conducted reading workshops for parents of pre-kindergarten classes, and have arranged field trips to the Pierrefonds Library for staff, children and their parents.

Pierrefonds Community Project

In 2006, le gout de lire | born to read volunteers met with the staff of the Pierrefonds Community Project which serves the families in western Pierrefonds. Together we decided to distribute bookbags through their Visiting Mother program. In addition, we agreed to participate in their monthly Community Luncheon – reading stories, distributing books to the children, and discussing the importance of reading with their families.

Duff Court

In addition to the programs instituted in Pierrefonds, le gout de lire | born to read visits the “Duff Court Drop In Centre for Moms and Tots” in Lachine. The volunteers meet with the mothers of newborns to distribute bookbags and to model interactive literacy activities for mom and baby.