Reach Out and Read-Goldsboro Pediatrics

It is estimated that an alarming 35% of children start school lacking the basic skills they will need to succeed in language arts and reading
(Source: National Academy of Education). Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a national program that promotes early literacy by bringing new books and advice about reading aloud into the pediatric exam room.

Doctors and nurses at Goldsboro Pediatrics and our three satellite offices give new, age appropriate books to children at each well child visit from 6 months to 5 years, and accompany these books with developmentally appropriate advice to parents about reading aloud with their child. By participating in the program, physicians help to foster a healthy relationship between themselves and their patients, as well as between child and parent. Research studies have shown that families who participated in the program alongside their child’s physician were more likely to make reading a part of the home environment and keep children’s books inside the home (RoR.org). Further, children will associate reading with the nurturing they receive from their parents and want to participate more often.

The ROR three-component program model was developed based on research that shows a connection between the frequency of sharing books with babies, toddlers, and young children and enhanced language development. First, pediatricians give books and advice to their patients and their parent(s), then parents participate in reading aloud at home with their children using the books they were given, and finally, volunteers from the community read aloud to children in the waiting room of their pediatric office. By increasing a child’s exposure to books and the activity of reading, they are more likely to want to read more frequently.

Although books are given to all children within the age range, the program specifically targets those children who come from lower income families. Nationally conducted studies have shown that children from higher income families are read to nearly twice as much those from lower income families, resulting in a literacy gap among young children. (National Survey of Children’s Health, 2003)

The Reach Out and Read program at Goldsboro Pediatrics has given over 16,000 new books to the children of Wayne and surrounding counties in the last year. The program directly impacts 7,500 children each year. Since beginning participation in the program in June 2003, our program has distributed 60,000 new books to local children. With the support of corporate and local businesses, as well as private donors, this worthy program continues to provide the tools that encourage the young minds of our patients to grow and expand.