By Janet Roth, President, Look. It’s My Book!
Why is reading important? Newsweek reports that reading skills are predictive of success in school, achievement in careers, and greater community involvement.
What happens if children do not learn to read? The principal of the Don Shute school in East Peoria has been giving books to his students and he explained. He said that from first to second grades children learn to read, after that they read to learn. And, if they miss the learning to read part … well, he saw those children when he was the dean of a junior high. The children in trouble were the children who had not learned to read. This finding is backed up by further documentation. The literacy website says that over half of all the prisoners in state and federal prisons cannot read nor write.
Further, there is plenty of evidence that a lack of education goes hand-in-hand with criminal behavior.
The Economist looked at the question: Are there ways to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place? Few studies have established that less education is actually a cause of crime. When the UK changed their law and extended the time students had to stay in school “they found a causal link between low education and crime.” The authors could even calculate that every extra year of education reduces property crime. A further American study found the biggest benefit from extra education was fewer violent crimes.
In addition, good schools protect property values. Ask any realtor, what is the first thing a family asks when they move into an area: “How are the schools?”
Employers want a healthy school system to provide educated employees and to attract professionals who demand a good school system. The trade unions are complaining that they are not getting qualified people to pass their tests to go into the trades.
So, what can be done to improve reading? Several organizations give books for children to keep and take home. Michael Plog, a retired employee of the Illinois State Board of Education with a PhD. in educational measurement and evaluation, reviewed the literature on book give-away programs that involved both control groups with no books and the groups that got books. These programs were “Reach Out & Read,” “Reading is Fundamental,” and “Raising a Reader.” The results: there is a statistically significant improvement in reading readiness, reading, and a carryover to math skills in giving books to children to keep and take home. These results were true even in bi-lingual children.
Studies found there is a correlation between the amount of reading material in the home and the reading ability of the child. They also found children read more if the books are at their level and on subjects that they like and they pick the books.
Yet, the literacy website, Americanliteracy.com, say that over 60 percent of most lower socioeconomic households do not have even a single book in them.
Books in the home help children learn to read. They make the schools better, and good schools make the community better.
Look. It’s My Book! was founded by Janet Roth in 2008 to provide books for students in Kindergarten through fourth grades in Peoria School District 150 where the poverty level for grade school children is at 76 percent and many homes have no books. It now serves every primary school in the district and includes 350 volunteers. Volunteers visit each of the 14 schools six times throughout the school year so that students can select books that interest them. To date, more than 130,000 books have been distributed. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.lookitsmybook.org. Or call 309-691-9266.
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