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Reading Program

REACH OUT AND READ PROGRAM

“Giving a book to a young child, along with age appropriate advice about sharing books for the parents, may be the only concrete activity a pediatrician can routinely do to promote child development.”
Barry S. Zuckerman, MD

The Reach Out and Read National Center works with more than 2,070 clinics and hospitals, and with more than 24,000 primary care medical providers to make sure that young children are introduced to books and reading aloud at an early age. By building on the unique relationship between pediatric primary care providers and parents of young children, doctors and nurses in ROR programs help families understand and promote emergent literacy skills that begin as early as six months of age.

All approved ROR programs have three important components:

  1. Doctors are trained to advise parents on the importance of reading aloud to young children — including age-appropriate strategies for enjoying books with infants and toddlers. This is the “anticipatory guidance” in the ROR model.
  2. Children receive developmentally appropriate books from the doctor or nurse in the exam room at each well child visit between six months and five years of age, along with anticipatory guidance for their parents.
  3. Volunteers read aloud to children in waiting rooms, modeling behavior for parents whenever possible, supervised by a ROR coordinator.

The Bay Pediatric Center is proud to be one of the few Reach Out and Read sites on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. If you are interested in learning more about the program or helping us to maintain funding for this vital program please talk to one of our physicians.

If you have recently had a baby- congratulations! If this is your first baby, you will find this to be a very rewarding and challenging experience that will truly change your life. If this your second (or third or fourth…) baby, you may be surprised at how different the experience can be as each baby is truly unique.

Please explore some of the links to learn more about some common newborn concerns and normal baby findings.