June 2006
Summer Reading:
Why Read to Your Child?
Parents are becoming more and more anxious to give their children a head start academically. The pressure starts early with innumerable products to make your baby a genius, competition for prestigious preschools, and testing at age 5 for advanced placement classes in schools. Everyone wants to help his or her child be successful.
As it turns out, one of the most important things we can do for our children’s future success is also one of the simplest: Put your baby or child on your lap, and read her a story. There is very little scientific evidence that products like flashcards can make your infant smarter; however, there is plenty of evidence that reading to your child from the time she is born will help her become a strong reader, do well in school and live a healthy and successful life.
Studies show that reading to a child regularly at an early age and having books in the home are the most consistent predictors of later academic success. Not only that, but children who are read to develop healthy self-esteem and are less likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol.
Of course, taking time to sit and read with your child is optimal. For busy working parents – whether you’re a two income couple or a single mom working two jobs to make ends meet – scheduling time to read daily can be a challenge. Jacki Crowther, program manager at Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program, maintains that even on days when there is no time for a story, parents can still support their children’s reading development.
Read a recipe together as you make dinner. Or read the menu together when you dine out. Read road signs together as you drive. Play word-finding games as you commute. Ask your child to watch for the word EXIT, or tell you when it’s time to STOP. According to Jim Trelease, author of the best-selling Read-Aloud Handbook (Penguin Books, 1995), “We have concentrated so hard on teaching children how to read, that we have forgotten to teach them to want to read.” You can help your child realize how much fun reading is by reading together and playing word games wherever you go.
Modeling reading behavior at home is also important to a child’s reading development. Don’t wait until the kids are in bed to read the newspaper or curl up with that page-turner. Let them see you doing it. Your children will copy whatever they see you doing.
Books for Every Child
What about families who can’t afford books? Families in towns without a public library? Or parents without good reading skills themselves? To break out of the cycle of illiteracy that poverty brings, children need to develop strong literacy skills at an early age.
Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program is there to help these families. Page Ahead puts books in the hands of children who would otherwise have none, encourages parents to get involved in their children’s learning efforts, and creates community partnerships to advocate for children’s literacy. Since 1990, Page Ahead (formerly known as Books for Kids) has given away more than 1.25 million new books to 450,000 children in need in Washington state.
For many of these children, the books they received from Page Ahead were the first they ever owned. One little boy who received a new book from Page Ahead said, “Thank you for my book. You don’t know how much it means to me to have my own book.” According to Sam Whiting, executive director of Page Ahead, “Giving a child a new book, when he has never had anything new before in his life, gets him excited about reading, and that motivates him to want to learn.”
Another important concept behind Page Ahead’s method is letting children choose their own books. Page Ahead provides a variety of books to choose from, always sending extras, so that no child is ever stuck with the last book on the table. “Our primary students are exceeding their reading goals at kindergarten and first grade,” says Marilyn McVay, a teacher at Rainier View Elementary School in Seattle. “The students at the intermediate level are able to connect with literature, a result of being able to self-select their own books.”
If you would like to help Page Ahead Children’s Program give new books to children who need them, think about hosting a book drive at your place of business, your mom’s group or your book club. Call Page Ahead at 206-461-0123 or visit www.pageahead.org to find out how. Donate a new children’s book or make a gift of cash.
And don’t forget, read to your baby or child!
Susan Waller is development director of the statewide Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program.
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