Did You Know?
85-90% of brain development occurs in the first five years of life. This affects cognitive abilities as well as emotional development. ¹
Reading with a preschool child is the single most important activity to prepare a child for school. ²
The average middle-income child has 1,000 hours of being read aloud to as compared to 25 hours for low-income children. ³
Academic failure in late elementary school results in increased risk for substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout and violence. ¹¹
The most critical predictor of eventual high school graduation and career success is a child’s reading proficiency by the third grade; however, 80% of children living below the poverty line do not develop this proficiency. ¹²
Currently, 45 million Americans are functionally illiterate and cannot read above a fifth-grade level. ¹³
Sources:
1. https://www.southsoundreading.org/resources/reading-research/
2. https://childmind.org/article/why-is-it-important-to-read-to-your-child/
3. https://teacher.scholastic.com/products/face/pdf/research-compendium/access-to-books.pdf
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797630
12. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED518818
13. https://literacyproj.org/2019/02/14/30-key-child-literacy-stats-parents-need-to-be-aware-of/