Reach Out and Read-Southern Arizona

Reach Out and Read Southern Arizona supports Reach Out and Read programs in Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz Counties and the Tohono O’odham and Yaqui Nations.

Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based program that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms by giving new, developmentally and culturally appropriate books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.  Reach Out and Read Southern Arizona prepares our youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together.

Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning from birth through five years of age. More than 60 pediatric and family practice clinics in Southern Arizona serve 43,000 children and their families through the Reach Out and Read early literacy intervention. Families served read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies, stronger language skills, and a six-month developmental edge over their peers.

Watch the short video below to learn why and how Reach Out and Read works.

The Reach Out and Read Model

Pediatric healthcare providers (including pediatricians, family physicians, and pediatric nurse practitioners) are trained in the three-part Reach Out and Read model to promote early literacy and school readiness:

• In the exam room, doctors and nurses speak with parents about the importance of reading aloud to their young children every day, and offer age-appropriate tips and encouragement.

• The pediatric primary care provider gives every child from birth through 5 years old a new, developmentally-appropriate children’s book to take home and keep.

• In the waiting room, displays, information, and books create a literacy-rich environment. Where possible, volunteer readers engage the children, modeling for parents the pleasures – and techniques – of reading aloud.