Reach Out and Read physicians and nurses provide primary care to hundreds of thousands of Latino children each year. In fact, 86% of ROR sites nationwide serve families whose primary language is Spanish. ROR 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 ROR, have demonstrated that literacy promotion improves primary care provider-family relationships in cross-cultural settings.

To ensure that the ROR message and model is delivered most effectively to Latino families, ROR has launched Leyendo Juntos (Reading Together), an initiative to develop linguistically-appropriate training and materials for ROR 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 ROR's Leyendo Juntos Guide.