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Reach Out and Read

— Programs — Reach Out and Read

Many CommUnityCare Health Centers participate in the national Reach Out and Read program. Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based nonprofit organization of medical providers who promote early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.

Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age. Reach Out and Read families read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills. During the preschool years, children served by Reach Out and Read score three to six months ahead of their non-Reach Out and Read peers on vocabulary tests. These early foundational language skills help start children on a path of success when they enter school.

CommUnityCare and Reach Out and Read seek to encourage and enable parents to read to their children by offering them the skills and the tools to do so.

At regular pediatric checkups, the Reach Out and Read program provides parents with books appropriate for children from 6 months to 5 years old, placing a special emphasis on economically disenfranchised children.

CommUnityCare and Reach Out and Read make literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, building on the relationship between parents and health care providers. This pairing between pediatricians and parents works to ensure that children are instilled with a love of reading and a home library of their own. CommUnityCare and Reach Out and Read encourage families to read together to promote early literacy skills so children may enter school prepared to succeed.

  • East Austin Health Center
  • North Central Health Center
  • Oak Hill Health Center
  • Pflugerville Health Center
  • Manor Health Center
  • Rundberg Health Center
  • South Austin Health Center
  • William Cannon Health Center