By: Collyn Gaffney
Friday, March 1, is NEA's Read Across America Day in
conjunction with Dr. Seuss' birthday.
For one day, parents and teachers are asked to join
together and celebrate Literacy by reading with children. Unfortunately, one day
is just not enough.
Teachers influence your child only six hours a day for
less than half a year. Your influence is much greater. Parents need to spend at
least 15 minutes every day, every year, reading with their child and it
needs to begin long before kids enter school.
Did you know:
- Children without some basic literacy skills by the time
they enter school are three-to-four times more likely to drop out.
- 90 percent of welfare recipients are high school
dropouts.
- 85 percent of kids in the juvenile court system
are functionally illiterate.
- On average, we watch four hours of TV each day. Yet, less
than half of our children read with an adult daily.
Here's some good news:
For every year you read with your child, their average
lifetime earnings increase by almost fifty thousand dollars. That's a two
hundred fifty thousand dollar gift to your child before they enter
kindergarten!
To quote Doctor Seuss: "The more that you read, the more things you
will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
That's my turn. Now it's YOUR turn. Find your fifteen
minutes today!
