Reach Out and Read
United States
Every day more than 9,500 children across the United
States leave clinics, hospitals, healthcare centers, and
doctors’ offices carrying new books because of Reach
Out and Read. Their parents leave with advice about
how to enjoy books with their children and with the
message that reading aloud will help prepare them succeed
in school and in life.
"We always look forward to our
doctor visits, because it means
a new book to take home
and share as a family. Reading
these books together has helped
us bond even closer.”
A Reach Out and Read mother
|
Every year 35% of American children start school
without the language skills they need to learn to read.
Reach Out and Read (ROR), an American, non-profit
literacy organization, was developed by pediatricians
and early childhood
educators to help
children start school
ready to learn, with
a special focus on
children growing up
in poverty.
The ROR program
is simple and direct.
ROR trains doctors,
nurses, and other
healthcare providers to use developmentally and culturally
appropriate books during office visits for children
from six months to five years to show parents how to
enjoy reading books with their young children. Then
the child takes the book home, so the parent has the
tool she needs to follow this important advice. A book
at every primary care visit from six months to five years
means ten books in the home by the time a child starts
school, each coming with advice, guidance, and
encouragement from a trusted professional—the medical
provider.
The ROR program is easy to implement. Medical clinics
have been eager to embrace the model as an opportunity
to provide important literacy information and
guidance for families and their children.
Reach Out and Read began in 1989 at Boston City
Hospital (now Boston Medical Center, Boston,
Massachusetts). Today, ROR has grown to include
more than 3,000 programs located in clinics, hospitals,
and health centers in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico,
and the District of Columbia. International programs
have also been started in Italy, Israel, the Philippines,
England, Bangladesh and Canada. With funding from
private, corporate, and foundation support, as well as a
grant from the U.S. Department of Education, ROR
currently serves more than 2.5 million at risk children
each year, delivering more than 4 million books and
literacy advice through a network of 44,400 pediatricians,
nurses, and other health professionals.
|
