Reading

I love to read, anything and everything. I could spend my life savings on books and be happy. One thing I want for my kids is for them to also love reading and to read well. We read everyday and visit the library 1-2 times a week. I try and buy my kids books that correspond with holidays so that during October we read Halloween books, during thanksgiving we red thanksgiving books so forth. Along with reading whatever else we want. I notice my son learning to love reading and learning so many things from the books we read. Right now we seem to be reading every single insect book the library has to offer. C.J. will readily tell you how many legs a spider has, that they are not bugs they are insects, that this bee makes honey and that ant is a worker ant. I enjoy knowing that through reading he is enjoying learning.

We know reading with kids is important, we are told that all the time. Heres the proof:

The early Childhood Longitude Study found that children who were read to at least three times a week as they entered kindergarten (http://www.education.com/grade/kindergarten/?_module=DeepLink&hit&id=8502)

76% has mastered the letter-sound relationship at the beginning of words, compared to 64% of children who were read to fewer then 3 times a week.

57% had mastered the letter-sound relationship at the end of words, compared to 43% who were read to fewer then 3 times a week.

15% had sight-word recognition skills, compared to the 8% who were read to less then 3 times a week.

5% could understand words in context, compared to the 2% who were read to less then 3 times a week.