About Reach Out and Read in the Military

With the many sacrifices they make for our country, members of our Armed Services and their families deserve nothing but the best, and quality health care and proven school readiness strategies are no exception.

The National Defense Appropriations Act of 2007 provides $1.1 million for implementation of a pilot project on pediatric early literacy in up to 20 military health care facilities across the nation and lays the foundation for reaching all military families with young children.

- Twelve military bases currently participate in ROR programs.

Moncrief Army Hospital, Ft Jackson, SC
Keesler Medical Center, Keesler AFB, MS
Fairchild AFB, Fairchild AFB, WA
Hill AFB Pediatric Clinic, Hill AFB, UT
7 MDG Pediatric Clinic, Dyess AFB, TX
San Antonio Military Pediatric Center, Lackland AFB, TX
Scott AFB Pediatric Clinic, Scott AFB, IL
Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA
Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes, Great Lakes, IL
San Diego Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA
121 Combat Support Hospital, S. Korea
Department of Pediatrics, Heidelberg, GE

- More than 9,000 children of military families participate in ROR annually.
- Over 17,000 new, developmentally appropriate books are distributed to children on military bases annually

Early language development is recognized as essential for the healthy development of young children, and ROR is the gold standard for promoting this development through a health care setting. More than a decade of peer reviewed, published research shows ROR to be a highly effective school readiness strategy.

ROR presents a unique opportunity to support and strengthen military families with young children. ROR helps parents understand developmental stages, build routines which reassure children, and develop skills and knowledge that are essential for families being tested by separation and deployment.

The military health care system provides full and systematic primary care for the children of military families. ROR has the potential to reach all these children, without building additional infrastructure, through a system parents already know.

Because families in the military sacrifice so much and because military parents are predisposed to seize every opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of their children, military families deserve to have Reach Out and Read as part of the pediatric care provided to their young children.

Coalition Announcements

All military sites will soon be receiving Sesame Street "Talk, Listen, Connect" kits. The kits include:

- 2 DVD's (Deployments/Homecomings and Changes)
- A Magazine
- A Children's Activity Poster
- 10 fliers for the product

We hope you will be able to use this tool in your waiting room. You can view the product at: Sesame Workshop

You can bulk order up to 30 kits at a time at:
Military OneSource

Military families can order this product on MilitaryOneSource for FREE!!

More announcements about Sesame Street's support to military families coming soon ... including books and touring information.

ROR National Center is beginning work with Zero to Three in the hopes of providing their "Over There" and "I'm Here for You" books as book options to military treatment facilities.

You can see the books at:
Zero to Three

Below are documents you might find useful:

Military One Pager

Guidance for Military Site Visits

Advisory Board Members

We are beginning work on developing the ROR Military Advisory Board.

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