Turn a Page. Touch a Mind.® (TAP-TAM) is an innovative early literacy program serving Kansas children from newborn up to five years old. Turn a page. Touch a Mind.® operates at 140 sites in 83 communities across Kansas.
At each of the Turn a Page. Touch a Mind.® sites across Kansas, a child’s physician gives every child a new, developmentally appropriate book and discusses with parents the value of reading aloud daily. This happens at each well-child visit. TAP-TAM is based on a simple but powerful premise: encourage parents to read to their children and give them the tools (or books) to do so.
A child’s doctor is in a unique position to encourage reading because they are a trusted source of guidance and have ongoing contacts through well-child visits. Parents are motivated to follow through and make reading to their children a part of their daily routine. Children who are introduced to books early in life are more likely to enter school with the skills to succeed.
The Kansas Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics developed this program for Kansas children, and it has been endorsed by the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians.