Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is an early literacy initiative that uses the research that we know about the special relationship between medical providers and their patients to promote the early literacy development of children ages birth to 5 years and their families.
Beginning in 2012, Children & Youth Partnership piloted the Reach Out and Read program through a grant from the North Carolina Partnership for Children. This grant allowed two medical practices in Dare County (Surf Pediatrics & Medicine and the Dare County Department of Health & Human Services: Public Health Division) to begin the program during their well-child visits for children ages 6 months-5 years. In 2015, CYP received an additional grant from the North Carolina Partnership for Children to expand Reach Out and Read to a third practice in Dare County, Outer Banks Family Medicine-Avon.
Reach Out and Read uses a three-part model to ensure the success of its program. As a part of this model, pediatric practices:
1) Provide a new, developmentally and culturally appropriate book for children at each well-child visit from birth-5 years of age.
2) Promote early literacy and reading in the home by talking with children and families about their reading habits, discussing the importance of early literacy, and providing tips and encouragement for creating daily book-sharing habits.
3) Create a literacy-rich environment in their waiting areas, ensuring that children are surrounded by literacy from the moment they walk into the door.
By promoting reading through a trusted individual, like a child’s physician, Reach Out and Read is making parents aware of the benefits of reading, while also making reading materials available to all children who are seen through well-child visits, ages birth-5 years, at these medical practices.
For more information about Reach Out and Read, including reading tips, doctor-recommended book-lists, and literacy milestones, please visit www.reachoutandread.org.
For more information on Reach Out and Read in Dare County, please contact Carla Heppert at cheppert@darekids.org or (252)441-0614.
