Why Parents Aren’t Reading to Kids, and What It Means for Young Students — from the74million.org by Jessika Harkay
A recent study found less than half of children are read to daily. The consequences are serious for early learners who enter school unprepared.
For children not getting the benefits of being read to at home, the opportunity gap has widened, with those young students entering school unprepared compared to those who have been read to.
“The gap really begins very, very early on. I think we underestimate how large a gap we’re already seeing in kindergarten,” said Susan Neuman, professor of childhood and literacy education at New York University, adding she recently visited a New York City kindergarten classroom and saw some children who only knew two letters compared to others who were prepared to read phrases.
A 2019 Ohio State University study found a 5-year-old child who is read to daily would be exposed to nearly 300,000 more words than one who isn’t read to regularly.