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Bianca Yager
Senior Block
Mrs.Straka
12/12/2014
How Can Reading Affect Child Development?
Reading can give you a feeling like nothing else, I never feel lonely if I've got a book they're like old friends. Even if you're not reading them over and over again, you know they are
there. And they're part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life
Emilia Fox. So why do people read? Many people read for entertainment, to pass the time, for
information, or to some, reading is an escape. It is a chance for people to forget about their own
life for a while and focus on something else. Some are looking for an action packed thriller,
while others are in search of a budding romance. People read for many different reasons and
have different ideas of what a good book is. One thing that most people dont take into
consideration, is how important reading is to your brain development and everyday life skills.
And childhood is the most crucial time for learning and development of the brain. A person will
learn more from the ages of one to five then they will in their whole life (Milledge). That being
said, childhood is one of the most important times to read and develop skills needed for a
lifetime. People should know how beneficial reading is at a young age, and should know that
some of the skills they use everyday come from the reading they did as a child. This is why
being exposed to reading and literature early in life will enhance child development.

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Some may ask, what is literature? Literature is described as written or spoken works
(Hacker). It can be piece of work from poetry, drama, or novels. Many countries have their own
types of literature. American literature started around the 17th century with authors such as John
Smith, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, and William Bradford. At that time, American literature
was still being heavily influenced by England. It wasnt until Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better
known as Mark Twain, came into the picture along with Kate Chopin, and James Weldon
Johnson. They wrote to the readers and made them feel connected to their works. These authors
changed the face of literature and paved the way for the literature we know and love today (Rise
of Realism:1860-1914).
Some think that children begin reading and learning literacy skills at the onset of school,
however, preparing your child for literacy and reading before they start school is the most
beneficial thing a parent can do. Reading books to children is a very important way to prepare
children for literacy, but it is not the only way. Talking to babies during pregnancy promotes
early literacy, and it is never too soon to start. A baby can start to hear from 16 weeks in the
uterus (The Benefits of Early Literature). Later, in a childs life, listening to music, singing,
rhyming games, and nursery rhymes are all ways to prepare them for literacy. The period from
the birth years to the preschool years is known as emergent literacy, which is when the child
starts knowing about reading and writing before they actually know how to read and write. It is
the process when children becoming literate (Roth, Paul). As a matter of fact, children who start
emergent literacy early get the most benefit, and become more confident in their skills (Roth,
Paul). When a child starts school, they slowly start applying what they know about listening
and speaking to writing and reading. In early speech and language, children learn impartial

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literacy skills. In fact, when talking to a baby or toddler, parents are teaching them about
working conversion (The Benefits of Early Reading Literature). There are an abundance of
things a parent can do with their child to promote early literacy. For example, toys, puzzles, and
crafts are all things that can help as children learn and excel through play (The Benefits of Early
Literacy). A parent should try to read to their child every day, then when a parent and a child are
in the car, ask them questions about the book (Reading Milestones). The better they are at sound
tasks, the more successful reader and writer they will become, compared to children that dont
get read to (The Benefits of Early Reading Literature) .
Reading and learning literacy skills are both very important to a child's development.
Reading gives you insight on not only literacy skills, but it opens you up to a number of other
skills that are essential to a child's development, it is likely that strong reading ability will
enable children to absorb and understand new information and affect their attainment in all
subjects.said Doctor Sullivan (Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom, study
finds). Reading helps improve language. Language skills are connected to literary development,
which later helps reading comprehension and overall improves student achievement (Whelan).
Other skills effected by reading are numeracy, thinking, and comprehension. Reading also gives
children a concept of numbers, letters, colors, and shapes before they start to learn about them in
school (Reading Milestones). When children are infants, they learn how to imitate sounds they
hear, respond when spoken to, and reach for books and turn pages with help. Reading to them
while they are toddlers should enable them to name familiar pictures, use pointing to identify a
named object, and answer questions about objects in books. In a childs early preschool years,

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they should be able to retell familiar stories, recite the alphabet, and start to explore books
independently. By the time they are in late preschool, they should try to read and write names
and use familiar letters to try to write. Kindergarten is when they should start matching spoken
and written words, write some letters, numbers, and words, retell main ideas, and identify details
in a story. All of these things that they learn are skills that come directly through reading.
Reading opens the eyes of children to the world that is around them and gives them the skill of
observation (Reading Milestones). Reading is ... one of the most important skills you can learn
because it gives you access to all other skills(Macdonald). Reading is more than just reading.
When you read, you are engaging parts of your mind that you didnt even realize you used for
reading. It is an essential skill that furthers other skills and is necessary for almost anything you
do in life.
Sometimes, it not easy to prepare children for literacy. Usually, baby talk past early
years, having an absence of interest in nursery rhymes or books, difficulty understanding simple
directions, not remembering names of letters, or remembering letters of their own name are all
signs that a child might not excel in literacy (Early Reading and Writing Development). Other
factors that affect literacy development are physical, mental, and developmental disorders,
poverty, and family history (Whelan).
There are a lot of things parents can do with their child to make them more literate, but it
is a proven fact that just reading to a child is one of the most effective things you can do
(Washuk). Just twenty minutes a day from birth to eighteen is all it takes to make a difference in
a child's literacy skills (Washuk). It does not matter if you read the same book over and over,
five hundred times. The most important thing is that they are hearing the words and the language

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(Washuk). Reading to a child also helps fluency and expression which in turn, helps
comprehension development. An experiment was conducted, and two hundred thousand dollars
was given to test if parent involvement would improve a standardized test score. The past few
years have shown that the test scores have gone up since parents started reading to children. It
also shows higher grades, better attendance, higher graduation rate, lower dropouts, and a life
time love for learning (Macdonald). As a result of reading to children, educators also hope to
open a door between home and the learning place. Sometimes parents are the child's best and
first teacher (Lundgren). Parents should not replace the teacher, but they should show interest in
childs learning (Macdonald).
Over the years, more and more parents have started reading to their children. In Fact, in
1993, fifty-three percent of parents read to their children. However, since then, the percentage
has gone up. In 2005, the percentage was up to sixty percent (Whelan). Many factors play a role
in how much a child gets read to. Race, income, and education of a child's parent all have an
effect on this. For example, Hispanics and African Americans are less likely to have a parent read
to them compared to Caucasians or Asians (Whelan). The number of parents reading to children
among Hispanics is forty-five percent, fifty-percent in African Americans, sixty-eight percent in
Caucasians, and sixty-six percent in Asians (Whelen). Reading to a child can help them for the
rest of their lives. For example, reading to a child can help them advance on children older than
them. Children that are read to three to five times a week are at the same reading level as those
six months older than them (Elder). Reading to your child also helps strengthens a bond between
a parent and a child. A parent should always try to connect reading with fun. Some ways that you
can do that is through asking them questions, making comments on pictures or text, using
different voices, funny sounds, and sometimes cuddling helps children feel connected to their

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parent. The more you read to your child the better at literacy they will be. By the time their first
birthday comes around, a child should have learned all the sounds they need to speak their native
language. So it is very important for parents to read to children. The more a child hears words
and sees pictures, the better off they will be when they start reading by themselves (Reading
Milestones).
Over the school year, children take in a lot of information, and they usually have some
form of reading schedule. Reading during the school year is very helpful, because most subjects
such as writing, go hand and hand with reading. Teachers would like for children to keep reading
after the school year, but when kids whirl into the madness of summer, they have a hard time
retaining information and keeping a good reading schedule. A lot of kids go through what is
known as the summer slide. The summer slide is described as what happens when young
minds are not active over the three month summer break (Milledge). In an interview, a principal
said Some students lose three or months Farwell principal Althea Walker said Very few
students come back with no summer slide(Washuk). The summer slide affects so many
children, and does not take very long for it set in.
After just four weeks of not having school, students will start losing what they have
learned. For children that do not read over the summer, they could lose up to three to four
months of reading achievement (Washuk). Over time, the loss of information will start to build
up. Consequently, by the time they are in sixth grade, a child could be up to two years behind
everyone else in their class (Milladge). Educators believe that this two to three month gap could
be what is causing kids not to advance in some subjects (Astrain). As a result of kids not
retaining information over the summer, education can be put on a halt when kids start school in

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the fall. For instance, when teachers have to reteach material a student should have already
known, the whole class ends up falling behind. A study showed that sixty-six percent of teachers
say they spent three to four weeks reteaching material (Astrain). Most people do not realize that
one of the most effective methods that can help against the summer slide is just reading. It is a
proven solution that just 20 minutes of reading a day is all it takes to prevent the dreaded summer
slide (Washuk). But for some families they are not able to get the resources for their child to
keep reading over the summer. This is why children that come from low income families usually
have more of a summer slide than other students. Low income students also experience more of
a cumulative learning loss, so every summer they keep losing more and more of what they
learned during school. There is a fifty to sixty percent achievement gap for poverty and minority
students (Milledge).
Despite the fact that some families are low income, there are multiple things any parent
can do to try to stop the summer slide. For example, almost all libraries have some kind of
summer reading program that usually does not cost money, so all kinds of children can
participate (Milledge). Taking a trip to the local library, setting goals on getting books finished,
combining reading with an activity, leading by example, helping kids find time to read, having
plenty of reading materials, and reading out loud are all things what would slow down or even
stop the summer slide from setting in (Milledge).
Although some may think that people don't use any of the things they learned from their
childhood, it has been proven that the skills you learned from reading early in life will benefit

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you for the rest of your life. An experiment was conducted to test if reading would benefit you
later in life. Dr. Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown put together an experiment on how reading for
pleasure puts children ahead in the class room. This experiment is believed to be one of the first
studies on how reading for pleasure has an effect on cognitive development. The 1970 British
Cohort Study started with 6,000 children that have the same background and test scores
( Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom, study finds). They charted how
much all the children read, then they gave them a standardized test at three different ages: five,
ten ,and sixteen. The tests included math, vocabulary, and spelling. As a result, they found that
children who are to read regularly at the age of five performed better on the test at sixteen. Also,
children that read a lot at age 10 and at least once a week at age 16 scored better on all three
categories of the test. Furthermore, the test has shown that having older siblings had a negative
effect on test scores, and children with literate parents had a positive effect on test scores
(Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom, study finds). College professor
Guyonne Kalb said it appears to be the case that children who are read to more often keep
doing better as they age than other children(Elder). Reading truly impacts you for the rest of
your life.
Reading opens up so many doors for people and can benefit you in many aspects of your
life. People should continually keep reading because it helps your brain function and grow
(Milledge). Reading also helps prevents Alzheimer's, improves your memory, reduces stress,
boosts your analytical thinking, and expands your vocabulary (Elder). It also helps your
understanding of some general culture. Reading six to seven days a week during childhood can

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put you a year ahead of people that never read or that have never been read to (Elder). Reading
as a child can only benefit you in the future. Its very important to make sure you keep reading
throughout your life so you keep developing necessary skills.
Reading is one of the most important skills you can learn because it leads to the
development of all other skills. A person starts to develop everyday life skills when they are
infants. Thats why it is so important for parents to be reading to their child even before they are
born. Having a love of reading, and reading a lot from an early stage in life will automatically
put a person ahead of someone that never reads (Elder). One of the biggest advantages a lover of
reading has is that they read over the summer. They have a huge advance over children that
never pick up a book over the summer (Astrain). Now knowing the facts about reading as a
child, why wouldnt a person choose to start reading early in life? Knowing how to read and
having literate skills at a young age will further a child's development and benefit them for the
rest of their lives.