Read To Children

In yesterday's LIVE section, the wrong days were listed for free celebrity readings by actress Jada Pinkett and Dr. Benjamin Carson at the Walters Art Gallery, 600 N. Charles St. Dr. Carson will read to children at 2 p.m. Saturday. Ms. Pinkett will read at 2 p.m. Sunday. Call (410) 547-9000 for information.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 3/15/96

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist with related projects. Among them: Franklin Square Hospital Center, 9000 Franklin Square Drive, Rosedale/White Marsh, seeks volunteers to read to children in the Family Health Center Waiting Room. Volunteers are needed for one hour or more weekly, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays as part of the Reach Out and Read Program. Information: Ann Heil, 443-777-7240. If your school or organization is seeking volunteer reading tutors and would like to be included in this listing, call Sundial at 410- 783-1800 and enter code 6130.

Schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them are:Baltimore Medical System, for its four community health centers in East Baltimore. Volunteers are needed to read to children in waiting rooms in the Reach Out and Read program. Days and hours vary at each site. Contact: Linda Wilkens, 410-558-4988.SECO-LIFT, Southeast Community Organization-Learning Is For Tomorrow, an adult literacy program, 10 S. Wolfe St., Baltimore, providing one-on-one phonics training to adults whose reading ability is below second-grade level.

Research in reading to be discussed at Cockeysville library COCKEYSVILLE - A presentation and discussion on recent research in reading and education will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Baltimore County Public Library's Cockeysville branch, 9833 Greenside Drive. Lea Jones, who has a master's degree in special education from the University of Oregon, will lead the discussion on predicting, preventing and fixing reading difficulties in youths. Jones also will address Baltimore County's reading program and parent advocacy.

In Baltimore City Shotgun blast wounds bus driver; man, 30, arrested An MTA bus driver was wounded by a shotgun blast early yesterday after picking up a man who was the gunman's intended target, police said. A suspect was arrested about five hours after the incident. The driver, Eartha Collins-Harrison, 49, stopped to pick up the passenger about 1 a.m. in the 2400 block of Reisterstown Road , said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. As the bus started to pull away, the gunman fired a shotgun, wounding the driver in the right hand and right thigh but not injuring any of the few passengers on the bus, police and MTA officials said.

The Cat in the Hat arrives in Baltimore this week, beginning what local and national educators hope will be a renewed emphasis on parents and children reading together.A weeklong focus on reading will lead to "Read Across America" day March 2, and a series of events across Maryland and the nation tied to the 94th anniversary of the birth of the cat's creator -- the late Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss."Our goal for that day is to place every child in America in the company of a book," said Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association.

With Thanksgiving comes the beginning of the seasonal bustle and celebration marked by conviviality and, yes, commercialism. As schedules are spiced with holiday greetings and gatherings, busy lives get even busier.It is also a time for the rituals, large and small, that set holidays apart. But for many American families, the season highlights a shortage that plagues too many lives -- the sheer lack of time for the mornings, afternoons or evenings together devoted to baking, decorating or simply basking in the electric anticipation that a brightly wrapped box can spark in a child.

Baltimore's health commissioner, Joshua M. Sharfstein, and schools CEO Andres Alonso are rightly urging parents, particularly low-income parents, to read to their young children. That may sound like a no-brainer, but too many young children are not read to regularly, making them ill prepared even for preschool and decreasing their chances for academic success and healthier lives. That is as true in Maryland as elsewhere; some parents here need more support to give their children a better educational foundation.