Why+READ!

  "Why can't I skip my 20 minutes of reading tonight?"
 *  Why Your Child Should Read for 20 Minutes Every Day **

 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 = 100 mins./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.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits,

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 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?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Some questions to ponder:

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Which student would you expect to read better?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Which student would you expect to know more?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Which student would you expect to write better?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Which student would you expect to be more successful in school....and in life?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> WHY READ 30 MINUTES A DAY?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> *If daily reading begins in infancy, by the time the child is five years old, he or she has been fed roughly 900 hours of brain food!

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> *Reduce that experience to just 30 minutes a week, and the child's hungry mind lose 770 hours of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and stories.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> *A kindergarten student who has not been read aloud to could enter school with less than 60 hours of literacy nutrition. No teacher, no matter how talented, can make up for those lost hours of mental nourishment.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> *Therefore...30 minutes daily = 900 hours

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 30 minutes weekly = 130 hours

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Less than 30 minutes weekly = 60 hours

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Guess you now understand why reading daily is so very important. Why not have family night reading? It is great to just shut off the television for 20-30 minutes and read... and share.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"> Source: U.S. Department of Education, America Reads Challenge (1999) "Start Early, Finish Strong: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader." Washington D.C.