With Thanksgiving approaching, there’s no better time to take a moment and appreciate togetherness. One of the best parts of spending time with family and good friends is helping each other learn and grow. November is Family Literacy Month, a time for us to celebrate the importance of learning alongside loved ones. Two of the most significant determinants of children’s success is their parents’ literacy and the amount of time parents spend reading with their children. Here are some of the most interesting facts about the power of learning together, courtesy of the National Education Association:
- By fourth grade, the classroom mean average reading score for students whose parent involvement is low is 46 points below the national average. When parent involvement is high, the score is 28 points above the national average. That’s a 74-point difference!
- It’s important for families to emphasize recreational reading. Students that read for fun on their own time have higher reading scores. The more types of reading materials available in the home, the higher students are in reading proficiency!
- Children who are read to frequently pick up on other related skills, like counting and writing, more quickly, too.