Marty Hirons
When my daughters were babies, I read to them, even when I knew they did not understand me. I loved rocking them with a book, and I kept doing so every night until eventually they could read alone or to me. At the time, I did not realize the impact it was making on them.
My oldest is an avid reader and still enjoys holding a physical book. My youngest is working in the library.
According to a study by the Ohio State University, a child that reads a book a day (or whose parents read to them) is exposed to 290,000 more words than one who has not been read to.
One Thousand Books Before Kindergarten is a reading program that encourages parents to read a book a day until the age of 5. Children learn more in the first five years of their life than any other time, and this is a great way to encourage parent/child bonding.
Keep track of your child’s progress and make it fun. When child is old enough to help log, you can use a chart to mark down how many books have been read. A fun way is to make it like a growth chart — put a sticker for every book read, and watch the sticker line grow! It will feel like a real accomplishment once the sticker collection is taller than the child. (A chart can be downloaded at 1000booksbeforekindergarten.org).
There are other ways to hit your 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten goal besides sitting at home reading books, such as attending storytimes, visiting the library StoryWalk, listening to our Dial-a-story (812-579- 4123) and even reading signs around town. Ask your school or child’s caregiver(s) to help with your goal and record anything read to your child.
And visit Bartholomew County Public Library, of course. Although we do not have an active 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program at this time, it’s something we are working on – so stay tuned.
Marty Hirons is the children’s librarian assistant at the Bartholomew County Public Library. Send comments to [email protected].
