Reach Out and Read has developed a new training program for all Reach Out and Read Providers that incorporates video vignettes of experienced primary care providers working with their patients in the exam room into an interactive, informative training seminar. Our hope is that this material will be helpful both to new providers, who are just learning how to incorporate the program into their practices, and also to experienced Reach Out and Read primary care providers who may be looking for strategies that will help them improve their skills and find new ways to use books with their patients. Because it offers our best attempt at a basic unified curriculum, this new training program is part of our effort at Reach Out and Read to improve program quality and consistency.

The heart of the Reach Out and Read model is the primary care relationship. Medical provider training is therefore key to everything we do. It is our hope that this training provides each pediatric healthcare provider with the following:

• Awareness of the importance of reading aloud and print-rich environments to the development of early literacy skills.
• A review of evidence-based strategies to enhance development of language and other skills that promote reading success.
• Appreciation of the provider's own ability to influence parents' attitudes and behaviors around reading aloud.
• Ability to evaluate and assess a child's developmental progress based on the child's interactions with a book.
• Understanding of how early literacy can be combined with other anticipatory guidance, including opportunities to combine literacy guidance with conversations about development and language, stimulation and interaction, and using books to build daily routines and bedtime rituals.

Online CME Training

Reach Out and Read has recently redesigned and modernized our training curriculum, and we are in the process of creating a new online training program that will replace the previous online CME Course. The new training program incorporates video vignettes of Reach Out and Read in the exam room to help both new and experienced providers get a real sense of the possibilities that books and literacy guidance offer in primary care. Once the new online training program is available, Reach Out and Read providers and staff will be notified via email and the monthly eNewsletter.

To learn more about your training options, you may also contact your Reach Out and Read Regional Coordinator:

Meredith Goldin, Program Manager meredith@reachoutandreadco.org

Carol Wells-Federman, Northwest Colorado Regional Coordinator carol@reachoutandreadco.org

Mary Vozar, Southwest Colorado Regional Coordinator mary@reachoutandreadco.org