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Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is a national pediatric literacy program that can be found in over 1500 clinics nationwide. USF Pediatrics runs the Reach Out and Read (ROR) program at the clinic on Davis Islands, the north clinic, and the Genesis clinic. There is also a program at the All Children's Hospital pediatric clinic. The goal of the program is to integrate parent education about literacy development into regular pediatric care for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, taking advantage of regularly scheduled well-child visitis to reach parents of young children. Through guidance from pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and office nurses, parents learn ways to support their children's early literacy development. Reading aloud is "prescribed" to parents as part of their child's daily routine.
In the clinic waiting room, community volunteers engage the children with books and reading, looking and labeling, reading aloud, listening to the children read, and modeling book-related interactions for parents. Used books are made available in the waiting and examining room for children to use while waiting to see the doctor. Later on, in the examining room, the pediatric care provider introduces an age-appropriate children's book into the interview, commenting on the child's response and offering information on the child's development. At each well-child checkup, the child is given a new book to take home. These books have been carefully chosen and are developmentally and culturally appropriate for the child.
Handouts and brochures with tips on reading are also made available to the family. For many parents, seeing the doctor give the child a book and seeing books and reading throughout the clinic communicates the importance of reading more effectively than any amount of explanation. Further, the accumulation of these books in the home, all carrying the health provider's recommendation, offers parents an opportunity to help their children develop and grow, and offers children a pleasurable and positive way to elicit parental attention.
For more information on USF's program, contact Dr. Sharon Dabrow.
The National Program website can be found at http://www.reachoutandread.org
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