NEWS  from
 Reach Out and Read
 Washington State
March 2019

Dear Friends,

We are excited to begin this newsletter with the image above, which was taken this past January in La Conner at the Swinomish Medical Clinic. We love how it conveys the joy that children, parents, and doctors experience when they share books together at well-child checkups. This engaging experience in the medical office has been proven to carry forward into the home, where families who receive Reach Out and Read are more likely to share books regularly together.

We are incredibly grateful to the Swinomish Tribal Senate for their permission to take photos in their clinic and to the amazing doctors and families who gave their time and willingness to appear in photos. These photos will be used by Reach Out and Read across the United States to offer a window into the magic that happens at a checkup visit with Reach Out and Read. We hope you will enjoy seeing these photos in our communications, and we plan to capture photos in additional clinic settings in the near future to share with you.

Also included in this newsletter:
  • An overview of exciting new research that showed a significant increase in well-child visit attendance after multiple clinics introduced Reach Out and Read
  • A progress update on our project to pilot integrating early math concepts into Reach Out and Read visits
  • An announcement of funding we have received from The Boeing Corporation to support Reach Out and Read in military health clinics
We hope you find these updates informative. Please get in touch if you would like more information on any of these topics. We would love to hear from you!

Very best wishes,
Jessica Mortensen 
Executive Director, Reach Out and Read Washington State
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Well-Child Checkup Attendance Increases after Reach Out and Read
Promising results from a new study

Exciting new research suggests that Reach Out and Read could be an important tool to increase family attendance at preventive well-child checkups.  In the recently published article  Attendance at Well-Child Visits After Reach Out and Read , Dr. Needlman, et. al., reviewed parent survey responses from eight clinics before and after they instituted a Reach Out and Read program. They found a significant two-fold increase in family attendance at well-child checkups, with the greatest impact on Latino families and families in which parents did not have a high school diploma. 

These findings suggest that implementing Reach Out and Read may encourage families to attend more well-child checkups. Attending these visits gives families significant services and supports, such as developmental screening, immunizations, guidance about child development, and early language and literacy support through Reach Out and Read that they may not otherwise receive.
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The Boeing Corporation Supports Military Family Bonding

Reach Out and Read is pleased to have been awarded a grant by The Boeing Corporation to provide support to our military clinic programs in the Puget Sound region. These programs currently serve nearly 10,000 families per year.

By supporting the delivery of our proven early literacy and parenting support program, this grant will assist the ongoing efforts of military clinics to give children and families increased access to developmentally- and culturally-appropriate books and literacy advice. It will also enhance support services for military families with young children who may be experiencing stress associated with deployment and life transitions. We are excited to continue working with our military health clinics to build supportive relationships between children and their parents to buffer the effects of stress on military families and to create an environment for bonding and reconnecting.
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Making Early Math Accessible
Doctors Supporting Families Through Reach Out and Read

Reach Out and Read is excited to announce that ten medical clinics in Washington State are piloting the integration of math concepts into the existing Reach Out and Read program model. Participating medical providers have received training on how to use books to integrate developmentally appropriate math concepts--like counting, comparing, and understanding shapes and spatial relationships--into the literacy guidance they already share with families at well-child checkups. When parents receive tailored advice about how to encourage their child's exploration of math concepts, it helps them develop positive attitudes toward math, and they are more likely to use "math talk" with their children. According to the Mathematica Policy Research Issue Brief Developing Math Skills in Early Childhood, "Children exposed to more math-related words as toddlers have a stronger understanding of math by the time they are preschool age."

We are thankful to each of the ten medical clinics participating in the pilot who are collectively serving 12,000 children and their families!
  • Kadlec Clinic, Pasco
  • Nooksack Tribal Clinic
  • Pediatrics Northwest, James Center
  • Pediatrics Northwest, Federal Way
  • Pediatrics Northwest, Baker Center
  • Pediatrics Northwest, Gig Harbor
  • Seattle Children's Hospital's Neurodevelopmental Clinic
  • South Sound Pediatric Associates
  • Valley Medical Center, Kent Clinic
  • Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Grandview
  About Reach Out and Read Washington State

Reach Out and Read gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.  Our evidence- based proven program leverages the influence of children's doctors and makes literacy promotion  a standard part of well-child checkups from birth through 5 years. Reach Out and Read  supports parents as their child's first teacher and helps children be ready for  kindergarten. 
 
Through 234 programs in 30 counties, 2,000 medical providers serve an estimated  129,000 children and their families across Washington. Reach Out and Read
Washington State is part of Reach Out and Read, Inc., a national not-for  profit 501(c)3  organization.