Well, to be clear, there ARE plenty of cold water opportunities in the Reading area. The county has 50 wild trout streams, and at least a dozen of them are good ones that fish well year round. A buddy of mine fished one last weekend, water temps mid 50's, caught 30+ trout.
For a small stream lover, this is the best trout fishing time of the year. Right now. And this year is better than most.
That said, most of them area pretty small and tight. For a beginner, start at the lawn, and the first water outing should be somewhere with plenty of backcast room. And most of the trouty places that stay cold in the area do not have a lot of backcast room. So I agree on the warmwater idea.
A lake can be tough unless it's from a mowed bank or something, but gills cooperate well. The Skuylkill for smallies is a good option too, at least he could wade around and cast, though success is less certain.