Child illiteracy is a significant issue in our country with far-reaching effects. Since our children are the future of our country, it’s critical that each and every one has a strong literacy foundation.
Literacy isn’t just a person’s ability to read or comprehend the main facts. It’s about developing thoughts and opinions and gaining knowledge that affects their entire lives.
Reading a book or writing a letter is only the tip of the literacy iceberg. A child’s emotional and intellectual growth can be significantly harmed by their inability to read and comprehend. Children must develop a strong literacy foundation to thrive in society, no matter what vocation they choose.
If you think about it, literacy impacts nearly every aspect of every day, including gaining (and retaining) employment, building a family, and being financially responsible, to name a few. Literacy influences how people understand the world and dramatically influences their life choices. If their knowledge and skills are limited, their advancement through life will also be limited.
The Statistics Are Shocking
Literacy shapes the way people learn and interact with each other. It forms the basis for a lifetime of communication with family, friends, and employers. Ensuring strong reading and writing skills in the early stages of a child’s development is vital to preventing problems later in life, such as unemployment, social disconnection, and even justice system involvement.
Childhood literacy programs are essential to reducing the rates of adult illiteracy. Approximately 36 million adults in the U.S. don’t have basic reading, writing, and math skills above a third-grade level, according to ProLiteracy. If literacy can be improved during childhood, it opens new opportunities for individuals later in life.
The following statistics shed some light on the importance of childhood literacy:
Literacy Unpreparedness Entering School
- Children of adults with low literacy skills are 72% more likely to be at a low reading level in school, according to ProLiteracy.
- Two out of every 10 children enter kindergarten with skills two to three years lower than their grade level, and another two start school with a one-year disadvantage, according to the Children’s Reading Foundation.
- Students who are behind typically make only one year’s worth of progress at each grade level, keeping them behind their classmates throughout school and making them more likely to repeat grades.
Lack of Grade-Level Proficiency
- Some 34% of students are below basic reading level in the fourth grade, according to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Another 31% are below the proficient reading level.
- About 27% of eighth-grade students are below basic reading level, per NCES. Another 39% are below the proficient reading level.
Child Illiteracy and Dropout Rates
- Illiteracy is a major factor in whether adolescents graduate from high school. One in 6 high school students — or about 1.2 million teens — drop out each year, according to ProLiteracy.
- Some 4.5 million young adults (aged 16 to 24) are “disconnected” — meaning they are not in school or working, according to Measure of America. These individuals often lack a high school diploma or GED.
- Students who are behind when they start kindergarten make up the largest portion of school dropouts. These students have a less than 12% chance of attending college, according to the Children’s Reading Foundation.
Curious about the literacy facts in your state?
Get your state’s literacy facts from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) based on fourth-grade reading performance: https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/literacy-map
Whom It Affects and Why
Illiteracy among children is a result of numerous factors. Socioeconomic status is one of the crucial variables, as it may be difficult for children from low-income families to get quality education and access to resources and materials that build literacy skills. The number of books a child has access to, their early education, and the amount of support they receive at home has a huge impact on a child’s reading abilities.
Additionally, the quality of education and resources can vary across different school districts and regions, leading to educational disparities. Schools in underfunded areas often struggle to provide adequate support for students, including reading interventions and qualified teachers.
Language barriers are another challenge for children from non-English speaking backgrounds or whose first language isn’t English.
The changing nature of literacy in the digital age is another factor. While traditional literacy skills remain essential, new types of literacy, such as media and digital, are becoming more essential. For students, the switch from print-based reading to digital reading brings both opportunities and difficulties.
Concerns exist around how much time children and teens spend reading for enjoyment as well. According to research, young people read fewer books for pleasure, which may influence their reading and comprehension abilities.
How Parents Can Help
The key to breaking the cycle of illiteracy is to start children reading as early as possible. Not only to promote healthy brain development but also to spark their creative and inquisitive sides. It’s never too soon!
17 Tips for Helping Your Child’s Literacy Development
- Introduce cloth and board books to babies. Around the age of 1, babies start to develop their grabbing skills. Cloth and board textured books are excellent choices for babies who enjoy exploring through touch and have a tendency to put things in their mouths.
- Incorporate reading into your daily routine. Establishing a regular reading schedule ensures that it becomes a consistent part of your day. You can allocate specific times for reading, such as before naptime and bedtime, creating enjoyable moments for both of you.
- Let your toddler take the lead. By the age of 2, toddlers can hold a book and point at what catches their eye. Allow your toddler to flip the book’s pages and play along as they engage and react to the story.
- Prompt your child’s thought process with questions. Make the experience interactive by posing questions like, “What do you think will happen next?” or “Which part of the story was your favorite?” This fosters engagement and active participation, leading to excitement to learn more.
- Learning through repetition. Around the age of 3, children can complete sentences in familiar stories. Reading their favorite books repeatedly helps reinforce learning through repetition.
- Highlight similar words. As your child starts recognizing letters, you can point out words in a book that begin with the same letter. This aids their familiarity with the letter and helps them associate certain words with it.
- Help your children make their own book. Making their own book is a fantastic way to practice their reading skills, grow their thought processes, and excite their creativity. Help children who can’t write by cutting out the words from magazines or newspapers or writing them for them. Include your child’s artwork to illustrate their story.
- Make reading an adventure! With the overindulgence in vibrant and energetic social media, streaming, and video games, a child’s boredom threshold has lowered over the years. This could make reading a challenge for kids who have gotten used to such highly stimulating sources of entertainment. In those instances, you and your child could act out the story from the book, giving them an outlet for their energy as well as engaging their imagination and creativity. Not to mention making lasting memories.
- Point things out that relate to a book. When you’re shopping with your kids, driving in the card, or just around the house, point out objects that relate to a story you two have read. Explain how that word or item is similar to what was in the story and why. This association will help them understand that many words have multiple meanings and build on that foundation of understanding.
- Look for words within other words. You can play this game with your children anytime, anywhere. Show the child a longer word and ask them to find smaller words within it. For example, they can find can in candy, ant in plant, pot in potato, and to, get, and her in together.
- Encourage your preschooler to tell the story. Children have longer attention spans by the age of 5 and can create their own version of the story. Prompt your preschooler to tell you what the book is about or reinvent the story inspired by the pictures on the pages.
- Field trip to your local library. Plan weekly trips to the library and make a fun afternoon out of it. Libraries often have reading programs and story times that will enhance your child’s enjoyment, so check the library’s website for an event/activity calendar.
- Build math skills by counting objects. During reading sessions, engage your child by counting objects on the page together. This activity not only enhances their early math skills but also adds an interactive element to the reading experience.
- Read with enthusiasm! When reading to your child, use inflection and maintain expressive variations in your voice and facial expressions to emphasize the storyline. This helps them remember the words and creates a fun and engaging atmosphere during reading sessions.
- Lead by example. If your children see you reading your own book, that will foster their interest and encourage them to develop their own love for it.
- Keep reading consistently. Reading to and with your child aids in developing the habit of listening to stories and nurturing a love of reading. One of the most crucial pieces of advice is to start reading to them early and make it a regular practice.
- Create a cozy space for reading. Is your child into building forts in the living room out of the sofa cushions and a blanket? Take advantage of that creativity and create a cozy space for them to retreat anytime with a book – with or without you.
However, something to keep in mind is to not force your child to read. Nothing will turn a child off faster than if they feel they’re being made to do it. In the beginning, set short goals for reading time, like 20-30 minutes a day together, and gauge their engagement and enthusiasm during that time. If they start getting bored, switch to a more interesting book or to an interactive game that promotes learning.
No matter how old your child is, these tips will help you take advantage of this valuable and influential time with your child, making reading a fun, educational, and a memorable experience for both of you.
A quote from Carrie St. Marie, founder of That Tutoring Place:
“I tell my students that I read with an “I didn’t know that, did you?” frame of mind when I come across something new. I laugh with them at the funny parts and act scared or surprised at those parts. When parents read with their children, they should talk about the story and its message or meaning afterward. Talk about it when driving, or having lunch, or after dinner. Keeping the topic focused on the book they’re reading helps children read to learn, or literacy. Yes, talking about how school went that day is good for daily knowledge, but talking about a book builds educational knowledge.”
Visit Reading is Fundamental’s website for resources like suggested books that kids love, activity sheets, and puzzles to encourage your child’s literacy journey: https://www.rif.org/literacy-central/parents
Conclusion
Parents play a vital role in their child’s literacy development. The tips in this article offer practical (and fun) ways to engage children in reading and make it an enriching experience. By incorporating reading into daily routines, encouraging active participation, and fostering a love for books, parents can create a strong foundation for their child’s lifelong learning journey.
When it comes down to it, breaking the cycle of child illiteracy requires a commitment to promoting literacy and providing the necessary resources and support. By investing in childhood literacy, we are investing in the future of our children and empowering them to lead fulfilling, productive, and happy lives. Together, we can create a society where every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential through the power of literacy.
Sources
Reading is Fundamental – https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/the-issue
The Children’s Reading Foundations – https://www.readingfoundation.org/school-readiness
Regis College – https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/child-illiteracy/