Medicine for the Soul

I love to read and always have, and even though I had three sisters and my family wasn’t well off by any means, my mother always made sure there were books in the house. Not only would we get books as gifts, we each had a library card at a pretty young age, and we continually added to our own supply every time the Scholastic Book Orders came out. My grandmother also taught us the value of books, and she never kept any on a shelf we couldn’t reach.

This approach to books and reading sort of went against the times. I am from the television generation where wholesome family entertainment each evening was sitting together in front of the television set, and we even had “TV” trays we could set up just so we wouldn’t miss our favorite shows. It was also the dawn of children’s television programming and parents didn’t think twice about plunking their children down in front of the tube for hours on end to watch the likes of Mister Rogers or Sesame Street-it was educational, so something should rub off…

But my mother would limit our time in front of the set (even though it would certainly have been easier for her)-we were often encouraged to read instead, and I am convinced that this helped me perform better in school, and made me want to be a life long learner. This love of the written word is exactly what I want to pass on to my own children, and I hope I have succeeded.

I started reading to my kids when they were still babies (around 5-6 months old) because I read study after study that touted the benefits of starting this early-just 15 minutes of reading each night encourages speech and language development, creates a love of reading, and affects their overall performance in school. Some studies say the earlier the better and here are some more facts from the Literacy Connections web site:

• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2000 found that "87% of fourth graders who loved to read on their own scored proficient on the exam (those who read very little performed at the Basic level)." And the students performing highest read for fun every day.
  
  
• This U.S. Department of Education: students read to "at least three times a week by a family member, were twice as likely to score in the top 25%."
  
  
• Young kids read to throughout the day did better in kindergarten.
  
  
• Now take a look at some scary reports 
  
  
  • "The average kindergartner has watched 5000 hours of television" (the report states that this is longer than it takes to earn a Bachelor’s Degree!)  I also read a while back that "screen time"-this includes TV, computer, and hand held games-should be no more than 1 hour of your child's day, or no more than 7 hours a week...
    
    
  • "80% of college professors state that freshman cannot read well enough to do college level work."
    
    
  • US Department of Education-"a functionally illiterate adult earns 42% less than a high school graduate."
    
    
  • It is also critical that kids read well by the third grade-a new study reports that children who are not proficient readers by grade three have a much greater chance of dropping out of high school...
    

The thing is, reading to your children isn’t hard to start, and even though most nights I want to just plop down on the couch and veg (you know, after the homework checks, dinner, and running around), reading with the kids turns out to be my favorite time in the evening. We curl up in one of the kid’s beds or on the living room sofa, talk about what’s happening to the characters, and lose ourselves in the story of the moment (generally it’s a chapter book that we continue to read throughout the week). This is one of the best ways I know to relax and connect with my kids.

I was actually planning on reviewing the books I’m reading with my kids (we are switching between two stories lately) and what I’m currently reading, but I guess I sort of went off topic. However, I will make a point to share these in a future post and leave you with this thought:

"You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be -
I had a mother who read to me."
~Strickland Gillilan
Happy reading everybody!