Reading Streak

Reading and literacy run deep in my family. My mom works in a university library, my mother-in-law is an elementary school teacher, I work with a talented group of library directors and children’s librarians.

In our apartment board books litter the floor. ‘Little I’ thinks of books as an everyday object. On numerous occasions we have watched him pick up a book, hold it upside down, right side up, or any way he chooses and flip through the pages. Little I also attacks our (his parents) books and magazines. He will pick up an adult novel and flip through it to feel the paper and hard cover or he will grab a magazine and tear off the cover or chew through a corner. Many of my librarian colleagues say these behaviors are normal and it shows that he has an interest in print media.

Last night I was reading the NY Times and saw this fun story about a father and daughter that have read together for over 3,000 nights in a row. It started when the daughter was in the fourth grade and has continued on through high school. As I read the story I thought about how parents and caregivers can create this love of reading starting even younger.

Many parents read to their babies before bed, a wonderful tradition. What if we all did it with the same dedication as this father and daughter? As the daughter says in the story, “There’s nothing I’ve ever done with that consistency, not even brushing my teeth.” 

Can we start something here? A streak of reading before Kindergarten? Here is a challenge—there are about 2,000 days between birth and the first day of Kindergarten, what if we can get families to read every day to every baby for at least a minute every day?
 I know some people will say one minute is too little, but it is a start, one minute will lead to five, and then ten minutes. And every day for 2,000 days, can we do it? Let’s try! I know it won’t be easy, there are times Little I wants to run around rather than sit with me to read, but who cares I can still read to him as he throws his books, toys, and wanders away. Part of what I want to show him is reading is fun and we’re spending time together, even if it is just for a few minutes every day.

Chance Hunt, a librarian with the Seattle Public Library, once told me “when you read to a child, you have to give them your whole attention,” that is a great gift for any adult to give a child. So let’s try it! Let’s go 2,000 days reading aloud to a child in your life.

-Erin

Some good resources:
100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Kindergarten, Pierce County Library System

The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease

Reading Rocket Family Guides, in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong

Reading Rocket Reading Tips for Parents
Available by age and in multiple languages: Spanish, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Korean, Navajo, Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese

Ready to Learn, Ready to Read Brochure, Early Learning Public Library Partnership
English and Spanish