Reach Out & Read Illinois prepares low-income children for kindergarten by incorporating books into pediatric visits from six months to five years, connecting families to neighborhood resources and encouraging families to read together.
Reach Out and Read Illinois builds on the relationship between parents and healthcare providers. Books are an important part of early learning and brain development, and Reach Out & Read Illinois distributes over 118,000 books and early learning resources to families every year. Yet, this is only a fraction of those that need support.
Biskup & Segui Pediatric Partners P.C.
“The smile on a baby while reaching for a book at six months. Even though they don’t know what it is they put it right to their mouth with excitement.”
Glenbrook Family Care Center
“The Reach Out and Read program is a critical program for developing children’s minds, relationships with parents, and really sets the course for a successful school career. The program is fun to implement too.”
Rush Copley
“Many patients say that they do not read at home and it is nice to guide families to being reading at home.”
Evanston Family Health Center
“Parents and kids love when we read the book and see first hand how much interest and joy their kids get from being read to or with.”
Servicios Medicos La Villita
“It’s great to see the improvements of the children’s literacy and they look forward to the books.”
University Pediatrics
“Children look forward to come in as well as siblings. We have a used book collection, where children can receive a book because of ROR we encourage reading for all children no matter what age.”
ACCESS Centro Medico
“I have noticed that the impact is with parents – how to be interactive with the book and children rather than just reading the book.”
Rush Pediatric Primary Care Center
“Children really love volunteer readers. Some parents can see that even if they don’t read the book word by word, they can still read to their child.”
Dr. Jain Pediatrics
“Our staff reads to the newborns and the newborns focus on the book. Parents are amazed by the concentration and facial expressions their child has.”
Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Clinic
“A little kid, 5 years old, was so excited to get another book because the library he has at home was created by all the books he received from Reach Out and Read Illinois.”