Making Reading Fun May Be the Best Gift You Give Your Child

By Paula Wright, Branch Librarian, Comstock Park Branch

It will come as no surprise to parents and teachers that reading literacy is down in the state of Michigan.  Recent news reports state that roughly only 38% of third grade students received a score of ‘proficient’ on the yearly M-step exam, one of the lowest rates the state has seen in the last decade.

There are many ways a person can improve their reading literacy, and studies have shown that one of the best ways is to make reading a daily habit.  Just reading between 15-20 minutes per day can increase one’s vocabulary (by introducing new words), increase one’s fluency (recognition of new words when they are repeated), increase comprehension (understanding of what is written) and studies have also shown there is a strong correlation between reading daily and academic success. 

Comstock Park’s Youth Branch Librarian, Miss Mikki, shared the following about daily reading habits “My wish would be for parents, especially parents of young children, to do their best to set aside the stress they feel about making sure their child is reading at the prescribed level and focus instead on making reading fun.  Make reading play-based not performance-based. View it as an opportunity to bond with your child.  If it becomes something your child enjoys doing, they will be more likely to continue doing it.”  

KDL has two programs that parents of young children can use to help them make reading part of their daily lives today and help set their children up for success before they even get to third grade.   These programs are: 1000 Books before Kindergarten (1KB4K), and Legendary Readers.

1KB4K challenges children (and their parents) to read 1,000 books before kindergarten.  While reading 1,000 books sounds like a daunting number, it truly is an achievable goal.  If you read just one book per day with your child, you will reach 1,000 books within 3 years (1,095 to be exact).  Repeating books, audio books, paging through a board book, books read at storytime and reading books in any language all count.   KDL will help you keep track along the way with a fun logbook that children can use to track each book they’ve read or reread, and children will also receive a special sticker to mark each time they hit 100 books.   Parents can start this program with their children as soon as they are born, and it is an excellent way to introduce books and reading as a daily habit at a very early age.

Legendary Reader’s picks up where 1KB4K books ends by challenging Kindergarteners through 5th graders to continue the habit of daily reading by reading 100 books during the school year.   Again, KDL has a simple log that youth can use to keep track of how many books they’ve read, and they get a prize once they have reached 100 books.   Each year Legendary Reader’s has a theme based on a different cryptid creature, with this year’s cryptid being the majestic Griffin.  Youth can repeat the program every year until they finish 5th grade.

Parents interested in 1KB4K or Legendary readers may visit any branch of KDL to get started.  These programs can also be tracked via the Beanstack reading app.