By Holly Engel-Smothers
Remember the board game "Monopoly," in which you move your game piece around the board and invest, pay taxes, pay rent and, occasionally, draw the card that sends you directly to jail? Unfortunately, in real life, there is also a proverbial card that will send you directly to jail. It's the "illiteracy" card. And, as the game card says, "Do not pass Go and do not get $200."
In doing research this weekend, I came across some stunning news. Seventy percent of mothers on welfare have reading skills in the lowest two proficiency levels. This is especially significant for our children because a mother's literacy level is one of the most significant predictors of a child's future literacy ability (reported in the "welfare" bullet from The Pennsylvania State Literacy Survey).
In California, if a child isn't reading on the fourth-grade level when tested in fourth grade, the state will budget building another jail cell! Arizona, Indiana, and several other states have this policy, as well. People who don't read well have trouble earning enough money. It is easier to mug someone, rob a store, or sell drugs to pay living expenses than to get a decent job with a low literacy level. Sixty-five percent of twelfth-graders never make it to the proficiency level (The 2005 Nation's Report Card).
Most of the reading problems faced in classrooms today could have been prevented or resolved in early childhood years. According to the National Commission on Reading, 1985, the single most significant factor influencing a child's early educational success ("early" is defined as up to age 8) is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.
Becoming a Nation of Readers, 1988 noted that "leisure reading and parent involvement" were among the best ways to help children become fluent, able readers. Researchers of this study recommend that we let children choose their own books, have books read aloud and demonstrate that reading is fun. Encourage older siblings to read to younger ones, and even vice versa.
However, simply having access to books is not enough to develop literacy skills. Children need to have a caring adult read to them every day. Children of all ages should have access to books and see others reading and writing. Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress have consistently found that the more reading material available in the home, the better students' reading levels are likely to be.
Reading is the major foundational skill for all school-based learning. After all, one has to read in order to learn science, math, philosophy, social studies, etc. Reading and writing skills continue to develop our whole lives. However, the period from birth to age eight is the most important for literacy development.
Many early literacy skills need to be learned by the time a child enters kindergarten and actually learns to read. These conventions of print include an understanding that print goes left to right, top to bottom, where the story begins and ends, knowing the front or the back of the book, turning pages, realizing that books tell stories, that the picture goes with the story, alphabet knowledge, and phonological awareness. All of these skills are built on one another. Take tiny baby steps with your babies and books. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, or in this instance, the first page!
[NOTE FROM SUSAN HEIM: This article is one of many from parent educator and mom of twins (and a twingle), Holly Engel-Smothers, who will be sharing her wisdom and expertise on the subject of reading through this "Literacy for All" column, which will appear on a regular basis on TwinsTalk.]