Children and ReadingNews and ViewsGrant Eckert, a freelance writer who writes about children’s education, says:"Children who are read to . . . are more likely to stay in school and graduate from high school and pursue secondary education. A surprising correlation is . . . [that] Because children who are read to are more likely to graduate from high school and go on to higher education, they are more likely to get higher paying jobs, and live longer."
From ABC Canada, Canada's private-sector voice championing adult literacy:Quality of life for families, including income levels and employment status, is directly related to the literacy levels of parents (IALS 1995/97).
(Downloadable pdf with 11 tips for reading aloud available here)
Artist, children's author and researcher, Tina Turbin, said in her blog post on December 8, 2009:. . . there is a direct relationship between how many words an infant hears in a day and his language skills, even his IQ. . . [Books are] crucial in exposing your baby or young child to a variety of words.Blog post, December 4, 2009, making suggestions for Christmas gifts for the children in your life:Books are and will always be your kid’s brain’s best friend. Among other benefits, reading builds the language neural connections in your kid’s brain and expands his chain of knowledge. ( exercises for children blog )Another blog, December 7th, 2009, also encouraged books as a gift choice for children:Finally, it can’t be said often enough that books are an incredible gift for your child. The books we buy not only encourage our imaginations to run rampant within us but they create wonderful snuggling opportunities for you and your child. ( babyready blog )Paul Kropp, author of over 60 novels for young people, teacher and frequent speaker on child literacyhas identified three key times when children can lose their interest in books: kindergarten, grade four, and grade nine.
Our most highly recommended books for children in those reading slumps:Kindergarten: Rumpus, Kiss it BetterGrade 4: The Underwater Mystery Grade 9: Faery Rebels, Spell Hunter Literacy, once achieved, is a lifelong skill your children and grandchildren will benefit from forever. Books open innumerable windows to education and entertainment for children and adults of all ages. Imaginations flourish, learning thrives, vocabularies grow, communication improves, and curiousity is both satisfied and stimulated. Video is fun and podcasts are a great and useful invention, but, in our opinion, nothing will ever take the place of a good book! |
