Reach Out and Read physicians and nurses provide primary care to hundreds of thousands of Latino children each year. In fact, 86% of Reach Out and Read Sites nationwide serve families whose primary language is Spanish. Reach Out and Read medical providers are in a unique position to develop a trusting relationship with families early in a child's life because they emphasize the importance of language, storytelling, and book-sharing to Latino families (in any language). Physicians and nurses, through their work with Reach Out and Read, have demonstrated that literacy promotion improves primary care provider-family relationships in cross-cultural settings.

To ensure that the Reach Out and Read message and model is delivered most effectively to Latino families, Reach Out and Read has launched Leyendo Juntos (Reading Together), an initiative to develop linguistically-appropriate training and materials for Reach Out and Read medical providers. These materials help providers to encourage Spanish-speaking parents and extended family members to read to young children. Leyendo Juntos builds upon the best practices that medical providers at various levels of linguistic proficiency (e.g., native Spanish speakers, near-fluent speakers, and those who speak medically-appropriate Spanish) have used when promoting early literacy to Spanish-speaking families.

• Children of Spanish-speaking families are more than twice as likely to fail fourth-grade reading assessments than non-Latino white children
• 58 percent of Latino fourth-graders read below the basic level.
• Latino families average 20 fewer books in their homes than their English-speaking counterparts.
• 46 percent of young Latino children (0-8 years) have mothers who did not graduate from high school.
• 28 percent of Latino children in the United States live in poverty.
• 22 percent of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 are Latino, but they are 20 percent less likely than other groups to be enrolled in early childhood education programs.

• Providers of differing levels of Spanish-language proficiency learn strategies for effective anticipatory guidance.
• The initiative emphasizes respect for the patients' cultures and primary language.
• Providers understand the cultural context of literacy and the link between literacy and cariño (love, caring, affection).
• Providers share with Spanish-speaking families the links between reading and school readiness.

Reach Out and Read has also developed a reference guide for pediatric primary care providers who serve Hispanic/Latino families. The content of the guide was steered by the Leyendo Juntos (Reading Together) National Advisory Committee for Reach Out and Read, which is composed of medical providers who are bilingual/bicultural and who have extensive experience working with Latino families. The guide is designed to be a reference tool for pediatric health care providers already trained in the Reach Out and Read model of early literacy promotion and who are familiar with, but not necessarily fluent in, Spanish.

Read Reach Out and Read's Leyendo Juntos Guide. (PDF)

Additional materials are available here for Reach Out and Read Programs that serve Latino children and their families:

• Leyendo Juntos Pocket Guide: A condensed version of the Provider's Guide containing key messages in Spanish (and their English translation) about reading with children.
• Leyendo Juntos Cultural Fact Sheet: Provides current and relevant information and research about Latinos in the U.S.
• Leyendo Juntos Doctor-Recommended Book List
• Leyendo Juntos Vendor Sales Sheets for the Doctor-Recommended Book List
  • Starbright
  • Charlesbridge
  • All About Books

Andrea Anderson, MD
Assistant Medical Director - Upper Cardozo Health Center
Director of Student and Resident Education
Unity Health Care, Washington, DC
Assistant Clinical Professor - GW School of Medicine
Medical Director, Reach Out and Read of Metro DC

Alexy D. Arauz Boudreau, MD
Instructor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Assistant in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
MGH Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy

Claudia Aristy
Children's of Bellevue
New York, NY

Marilyn Augustyn, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Boston University School of Medicine
Medical Director, Reach Out and Read-Massachusetts

Carrie Byington, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Chair for Clinical Research
Department of Pediatrics
University of Utah

Diego Chaves-Gnecco, MD, MPH
SALUD PARA NIÑOS Program Director & Founder
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrian
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Mariana Glusman, MD, Chair
Assistant Professor in Pediatrics
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Children's Memorial Pediatrics
Chicago, IL

Steve Federico, MD
Denver Health
Denver, CO

Perri Klass, MD
Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics, New York University
Medical Director, Reach Out and Read
Department of Pediatrics
Bellevue Health Center
New York, NY

Gonzalo Paz-Soldan, MD, FAAP
Medical Director, Arlington Pediatric Center
Arlington, VA