3/5/2014

“Reading aloud is the single most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to improve a child’s readiness to read and learn” (Read Aloud 15 MINUTES, 2014). It’s never too early to start! Reading to a child and exposing him/her to books should start during infancy, a time when brain development is rapid.

Early Literacy Facts

• From birth to age 3 are critical years in the development of language skills.
• More than 1 in 3 children arrive at kindergarten without the skills necessary for lifetime learning.
• Research shows that reading aloud is the single most important thing you can do to help a child prepare for reading and learning.
• The number of words a child knows upon entering kindergarten is a key predictor of his or her success.
• Reading to yourself and/or to a child demonstrates that reading is important, pleasurable, and valued.
• Reading aloud builds literacy skills: vocabulary, phonics, familiarity with the printed word, storytelling, and comprehension.
• More than 15% of young children (3.1 million) are read to by family members fewer than three times a week.
• Only 48% of young children in the U.S. are read to each day.

Source: National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education

Available at: http://nrckids.org/index.cfm/homepage-features/supporting-literacy-in-early-care-and-education-settings/