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May 27, 2008
Reach Out and Read Program is introduced at FamilyCare Doctors
Getting books from the doctor is now a routine part of well-child visits at FamilyCare Doctors, a service of Marquette General Health System, as doctors and nurses welcome the Reach Out and Read program to the practice. FCD joins more than 2,200 programs nationally that are working to make books part of a healthy childhood.
Reach Out and Read is a simple, yet highly effective concept, aimed at fostering a love of reading.
FCD will distribute new books to children ages six months to five years and offer reading tips to parents during routine well child visits. In addition, volunteers will be available periodically to read with children in the waiting area. By providing parents with the information, support, and materials they need to make books a part of their children’s lives, children will learn to love books and will begin school ready to learn to read.
Medical research shows that literacy promotion by the physician has a significant effect on parental behaviors, beliefs and attitudes toward reading aloud. For more than a decade, studies have indicated that parents who get books and literacy counseling from their doctors and nurses are more likely to read to their children, read to them more often, and provide more books in the home. In addition, studies have shown improvements in the language scores of young children receiving Reach Out and Read.
For more information about Reach Out and Read at FamilyCare Doctors, or if you would like to make a donation or volunteer as a reader, please contact Rachel at
(906) 225-3864.
Reach Out and Read is a national, non-profit program working to make literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Reach Out and Read trains physicians and employees to be effective in encouraging and modeling ways parents can interact with their children using age-appropriate books. This year Reach Out and Read will provide more than 3 million books to more than 2 million children, with more than 2,220 programs throughout the country.
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