{"id":136208,"date":"2026-03-12T07:38:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136208\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T07:38:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:38:06","slug":"childrens-institute-creates-nine-cozy-reading-nooks-for-early-learners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136208\/","title":{"rendered":"Children\u2019s Institute creates nine cozy ‘reading nooks’ for early learners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Children are more likely to build strong early literacy skills \u2014 and develop a love of reading \u2014 if their parents read with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This month, The Children\u2019s Institute of Pittsburgh<\/a> launched a new initiative to help make that easier for local families. Their Early Literacy Initiative is designed to foster a love of reading in the families the Institute serves, one story at a time.<\/p>\n

There are now a total of nine reading nooks available at the five locations of The Children\u2019s Institute of Pittsburgh \u2014 Squirrell Hill, Bridgeville, Norwin, Beaver and Washington County. <\/p>\n

These cozy, welcoming spaces for families were inspired by growing evidence from the American Academy of Pediatrics showing that reading aloud with young children supports language development and emotional regulation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>One of four book nooks at the Squirrel Hill campus of the Children\u2019s Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting holistic child development and strengthening families are at the core of everything we do. Reading aloud is one of the simplest \u2014 and most powerful \u2014 ways families can nurture lifelong health, learning, and connection,\u201d says the Institute\u2019s president and CEO, pediatrician Dr. Johanna Vidal-Phelan, who led the project. <\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding early literacy skills and creating moments of togetherness are more important than ever,\u201d Dr. Vidal-Phelan says, \u201cespecially at a time when media and screens demand so much of our attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch of this project coincides with local and state efforts. Gov. Josh Shapiro prioritized adult and family literacy in his 2026-2027 budget address and Mayor Corey O\u2019Connor and his wife Katie O\u2019Connor hosted a roundtable discussion on early education and literacy last month.<\/p>\n

With support from the Keefe Ellis Memorial Fund, the Institute now has 300 books housed across its locations, including diverse titles celebrating students, children and families the Institute serves.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Children are more likely to build strong early literacy skills \u2014 and develop a love of reading \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,62822],"class_list":["post-136208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-the-childrens-institute"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}