The Importance of Celebrating National Reading Month

Start a routine that inspires them for life:

This month is National Reading Month and schools and parents across the country are getting involved in promoting a love of reading in children.  I love reading to my daughter and continue to do so even though she can read early chapter books.  It is more than reading to her, we enjoy this downtime and pick out books to read together.

Young children who read 20 minutes per day scored above the 90th percentile on standardized reading tests.* Take the challenge to read to your child each day, and create a love of reading to last a lifetime. (Source: Cunningham, A.E., & Standavich, K.E. (1998).

PBS SoCal also joined in on the fun with the Cat-a-Van Tour 2015 this month and met with schools  Orange County United Way, Vista Verde Elementary School, Compton United School District, Carson Street Elementary, and Youth Policy Institute. You can read more about what they are doing in the community here.

 PBS SoCal brought reading materials and Cat-in-the-Hat to a 2nd grade class in Orange County.

The Importance of Reading:

Kids who are read to at least three times a week by someone in the family — a parent, grandparent, even a sibling — are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in reading compared to children who were read to less often. Yet only about half of all 3- to 5-year olds are read to on a daily basis by a family member. (Huffington Post).

Spread the Joy of Reading:

Take LeapFrogs 20/20 Challenge – read to your child 20 minutes every day and for every family that signs up, they will donate 20 Leapfrog books to the Kristi Yamaguchi Always Dream Foundation! What a great way to spread the joy of reading to families in need!

Students can enter to win a $10,000 STEAM Scholarship!

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Dr. Seuss Enterprises in partnership with NEA’s Read Across America will offer a Kid You’ll move Mountains! STEAM Scholarship. The $10,000 scholarship includes a trip to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure theme park and a once-in-a-lifetime ride on the Goodyear Blimp!  For official rules go to KidsMovingMountains.com!

So this month and all year long, keep reading to your children and check out ways to help families in need receive books.  There are so many adventures to be had just by reading!  I still read my favorite childhood book “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell about once a year and look forward to reading it with my daughter.

What book do you and your child enjoy reading together?