Celebrating 11 Years of Building Young Readers
Castle Valley Children’s Clinic is proud to celebrate 11 years of partnership with Reach Out and Read Colorado. Through this program, our healthcare providers help families make reading a regular part of childhood by sharing trusted literacy guidance, modeling reading during well-child visits and giving children high-quality books to take home.
Reading together supports much more than school readiness. It helps strengthen language development, encourages meaningful interaction between children and caregivers and creates routines that can support healthy growth and development.
Thousands of Books Shared With Local Families
Over the past 11 years, Castle Valley Children’s Clinic has prescribed 8,050 high-quality books to children and their families. During the most recent year, 744 books were shared through the clinic, helping families continue building their own home libraries.
At our Carbondale location, providers have prescribed 4,229 high-quality books over the past 11 years. An additional 775 books were shared with Carbondale families during the most recent year.
Combined, these efforts have placed thousands of books directly into the hands of children throughout our community.
Why Books Belong in Well-Child Visits
Books are a valuable tool during pediatric visits. A healthcare provider can use a book to connect with a child, observe how the child communicates and interacts and offer practical guidance to parents about reading together at home.
Supporting Developmental Surveillance
Watching a child interact with a book can help providers observe gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, language, communication and relational development. Turning pages, pointing to pictures, naming familiar objects and responding to a caregiver’s voice can all provide useful insight during a well-child visit.
Modeling and Guidance for Parents
Reading does not have to mean finishing every word on every page. Meaningful reading can include pointing to pictures, talking about the story, naming colors and objects, asking questions or letting a child turn the pages.
Reading together may look different at every age. Babies may enjoy hearing a caregiver’s voice and looking at colorful pictures. Toddlers may point, repeat words or ask to hear the same story again. Older children may answer questions, predict what happens next or help tell the story.
Building Connection Through Reading
When families use books during everyday routines, they create opportunities for conversation, connection and learning. Even a few minutes of reading together can help children build vocabulary, strengthen listening skills and develop a positive relationship with books.
By incorporating books into well-child care, Castle Valley Children’s Clinic and Reach Out and Read Colorado help families create meaningful moments that support healthy growth and development.
Simple Ways to Read Together at Home
- Let your child choose the book whenever possible.
- Point to pictures and name what you see.
- Ask simple questions about the characters or story.
- Allow young children to turn the pages.
- Use different voices and expressions to make the story engaging.
- Read favorite books repeatedly.
- Keep books where children can easily reach them.
- Make reading part of bedtime or another daily routine.
Thank You to Reach Out and Read Colorado
We are grateful to Reach Out and Read Colorado for its continued partnership and commitment to early childhood literacy. We also appreciate the families, healthcare providers, donors and community partners who help make this program possible.
Castle Valley Children’s Clinic remains committed to helping children grow into healthy, confident and enthusiastic readers—one visit and one book at a time.
Program impact figures were provided by Reach Out and Read Colorado for Castle Valley Children’s Clinic and Castle Valley Children’s Clinic: Carbondale.
