Last Tuesday we added 9 new children to our 1001 Books Before Kindergarten alumni. The program began in 2013 and we now have a total of 181 graduates. That comes to a total of 181,181 books or roughly 30,197 books per year!
WHY? By age 3, the brain has developed up to 80% despite public education starting at age 5. Reading to or with your child before kindergarten gives them an immense educational advantage to the rest of their lives — up to college and beyond. Children learn to talk from their parents talking to them. The more you read to your child, the more words they hear. Studies show that more words heard from birth to age 4 means a child will talk earlier and read sooner. This, in turn, leads to better grades in school, more college scholarship money, and even a better job one day. It is about way more than just early literacy.
If you read just one book to your child every day, you can complete 1001 books in just three years. It is totally possible, even for busy folk. Sign-up at the Youth Reference Desk today with your Algonquin library card and do your child a lifelong favor!
Sources:
1000 Books Foundation. “Why 1000 Books Before Kindergarten is so Important?” 1000 Books Foundation. 2013-2017. https://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/education/. Accessed May 13, 2019.
Gilkerson, Jill & Jeffrey A. Richards. “Impact of Adult Talk, Conversational Turns, and TV During the Critical 0-4 Years of Child Development.” LENA Foundation. 2009. https://www.lena.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/LTR-01-2_PowerOfTalk.pdf. Accessed May 13, 2019.
Versa Me. “Science.” Starling. 2017. https://getstarling.versame.com/science/. Accessed May 13, 2019.