It is hard to argue about the benefits of instilling good reading habits in children from a very young age. Yet it has become more challenging than ever before to find the quiet time kids need to settle in with a good book. Reading for pleasure has almost become a luxury in the busy lives of little ones who have tight schedules. Between long hours in school followed up extracurricular activities, tired kids barely have time to complete their homework assignments before crawling into bed. And, sadly, many do not have the energy to experience the joy of reading just for fun, at least during the school year. Here are some pretty alarming statistics about reading for kids who could benefit from more free time to pick up a book.
How Poor Reading Skills Affect Kids
(1) Children who do not read once they have acquired basic literacy skills do not develop advanced vocabulary and are not exposed to complex sentence structure. These skills are fundamental to their success in further education and professional life.
(2) Almost 35% of children entering kindergarten in the US do not have the most basic language skills they need to learn to read.
(3) Children who have not developed some literacy skills by the time they start kindergarten are three times more likely to drop out of school before completing 12th grade. Approximately 8000 high school students drop out of school every day.
(4) If a child is a poor reader at the end of first grade, there is a 90% probability that the child will be a behind in reading skills by end of fourth grade.
(5) Reading just 15 minutes a day can expose children to more than a million words of text in a year.
(6) Almost 40% of fourth graders have not mastered fundamental reading skills. 65% of fourth graders are reading below their level.
(7) When some states project how many prison beds they will need in the future, they factor in literacy rates of fourth graders.
(8) Summer is a crucial time when kids either jump ahead in their reading ability, or lose some of the reading ability they acquired during the school year. Children who experience significant learning slide during the summer can experience up to a 3-year reading loss by the end of fifth grade.
Learn More About Childhood Literacy
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Strategies to Motivate Reluctant Readers |