Family Reading Every Evening

     Reading to and reading with children is a crucial component for success at school.  How many times can you say there is a family activity that is FREE, beneficial to your child’s success at school and creates an indelible memory all at once?  Students need to read daily for 15-30 minutes seven days a week.

Why Can’t I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight?

Let’s figure it out mathematically!

Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;

Student B reads only 4 minutes a night…or not at all!

Step 1:  Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.

Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100mins./week

Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes

Step 2:  Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.

Student A reads 400 minutes a month.

Student B reads 80 minutes a month.

Step 3:  Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year.

Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year.  

Student B reads 720 min. in a school year.

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year.  Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.

By the end of 5^th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of  60 whole school days.  Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.

One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance.  How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?

Some questions to ponder:

Which student would you expect to read better?

Which student would you expect to know more?

Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?

Which student would you expect to be more successful in school…and in life?

Turn off the TV for 20 minutes a night and read…it’s worth it!