Oxford Public Library is working with the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES with the goal to have every child being read aloud to by a parent or loved one for 15 minutes every day starting at birth.
According to Read Aloud:
- Reading aloud is the single most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to help a child prepare for reading and learning.
- Nationally, 37% of children arrive in kindergarten without the skills necessary to begin their learning journey.
- If a child is not reading at grade level by the end of the first grade, then there is an 88% probability the child will not be reading at grade level by the end of the fourth grade.
- Even in higher-income households, nearly 40% of families do not read aloud every day.
- More than half the children in this country - 13 million children - will not hear a bedtime story tonight.
- If nothing changes, over the coming decade 15 million children will begin kindergarten ill prepared for their learning journey setting off a cascade of failure.