in collaboration with Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

Read together as a family at home

File under: education, reading, literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty

(1 votes)

From: Mary H., Wilmington, DE

Encourage parents and guardians to read to their children as a family activity from birth through middle school. Children who are read to and talked to are better prepared for school and perform better in school.

Read to Them has created the One School One Book program to encourage families to read at home and encourage whole towns to become involved in reading aloud. This is an activity that can engage everyone in a family from infants to grandparents.

One of my most cherished memories is of a Christmas Day spent reading The Best Christmas Pageant with my husband, 9-year-old child, 80-year-old mother, and 78-year-old aunt. We all took turns reading a chapter, and laughed ourselves silly. Sadly, both of the older generation are gone now, but we all remember that day with great fondness.

Literacy is a key to financial success because good reading skills ensure educational success, which leads to better jobs and more permanent employment. Nowadays, even plumbers and electricians need a high degree of literacy. This idea will not lead to immediate poverty mitigation, but it will help break the cycle of poverty.

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