Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is starting a local site of the nationally-recognized Reach Out and Read literacy promotion and family engagement program at New Beginnings Pediatrics in Blacksburg, VA. Reach Out and Read is a literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Reach Out and Read's unique approach is to find and meet new families where they are: in their doctor's office. On average, a child sees a medical provider at least 10 times in the first five years of life, and often more.  Parents are their child's first teachers, and health and education are deeply linked, especially in the first years of life. Reach Out and Read is committed to healthy brains and bodies. By partnering with the medical community to "prescribe" daily reading, we are treating early childhood education just as rigorously as traditional medical issues. A common misconception is that early childhood education starts with kindergarten, but in reality, it must start long before then. It is vital to start exposing children to language, including books and stories, as early as possible. With a gift of $30, you can help us purchase 10 brand new, culturally and developmentally appropriate books for children in our community.

Our 3-part intervention is part of all well-child visits for children up to 5 years of age:

1. The Conversation: During well-child visits, the doctor prescribes reading by modeling read-aloud strategies while teaching and training the parent about how to share books and why it is important.

2. The Book: each child is given a new, culturally and developmentally-appropriate book to take home, building a collection of 10-15 new books in the home before the child goes to kindergarten.

3. Literacy-Rich Environment and resources: Clinic environments support literacy-rich messaging and resources to families, supporting providers in community-health resources, and supporting parents in daily literacy activities with their children. 

At VCOM, we understand the importance of supporting a child's literacy development from the earliest stages of life. Joining Reach Out and Read will allow us to do so in a systematic, comprehensive way. This program will be a boon to our families and our clinicians. Our poverty rate in Montgomery County is 19%. The community needs new ways to stimulate childhood (and adult) literacy skills development. The Reach Out and Read program provides this opportunity, with the added benefit of encouraging parental engagement and promoting children's and families' healthy growth and development with alternatives to screen time, which has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Beginnings Pediatrics, a for-profit VCOM subsidiary, has applied and been approved by the Reach Out and Read National Center to become a participating site. New Beginnings Pediatrics medical providers have completed Reach Out and Read's online Core Provider training and are ready to implement Reach Out and Read in daily practice. Funding committed to this program through the GiveLocalNRV initiative will be used to purchase new, developmentally-appropriate books to cover all well-child visits from ages 6 months through 5 years for a year of program implementation at New Beginnings Pediatrics. 

Books are selected from curated catalogs of high-quality, low-cost books chosen specifically for Reach Out and Read.  Reach Out and Read’s National Book Committee meets regularly to review the books that are made available through the catalogs. 
At the heart of the committee’s mission is ensuring that the books given out by participating providers represent the values stated in the Reach Out and Read Book Policies. It is a priority that program books reflect the widest possible representation 
of the children and families served, with stories that are relevant and engaging, accurately reflect and affirm a diverse range of identities, cultures, and histories, and 
contain illustrations that are colorful and recognizable to young children. 
The annual book budget needed to support this program is $5,805.80.