Why Read?

Literacy is one of the essential foundations of human life.  It entails reading comprehension, reading fluency, vocabulary, and writing proficiency.  Literacy opens doors for more educational and employment opportunities.  Knowing how to read and write proficiently removes barriers and increases ones outcome for success.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education1, children who are read to at home enjoy a substantial advantage over children who are not:

Twenty-six percent of children who were read to three or four times in the last week by a family member recognized all letters of the alphabet. This is compared to 14 percent of children who were read to less frequently.

The NCES1 also reported that children who were read to frequently are also more likely to:

• count to 20, or higher than those who were not (60% vs. 44%)

• write their own names (54% vs. 40%)

• read or pretend to read (77% vs. 57%)

In a study conducted by Stanford University researchers it revealed that 2-year old children who live in poverty may be six months behind in language development compared to 2-year old children who live in higher demographic neighborhoods.  The vocabulary span between children living in poverty and children living in middle to upper class neighborhoods is very broad.  This extensive gap causes major challenges for our youth when faced with inevitable academic barriers such as standardized testing that unfortunately measure how far they will go post secondary education.

The cause of this can be related to the parents of our children living in poverty may  be illiterate, uneducated, under-educated English limited speakers, and economically challenged.  How can an adult who lacks basic literacy skills teach a child how to read and write proficiently?

Parental Tips:

1. Ask your child's teacher to provide you with his/her reading level

2. Go to your local library and check out level based books for your child

3. Have your child read to you and others out-loud daily

4. Give your child a notebook and allow them to write about whatever they are interested in

5. Read to your child daily

6. Engage in conversations with your child frequently throughout the day

7. Limit all electronics!!!