 Feed the Mind Program Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders; they are our hope for the future, to build a strong and thriving economy and society. The lack of reading skills can impact learning and future success. CFOC is working to address the literacy challenges our children face. Literacy skills begin at birth and build on relationships, and experiences that occur during infancy and early childhood. Emergent literacy has the biggest impact on the academic success of a child and is the root of reading success and forms the basis for learning in all subjects. 90% of a child’s critical brain development occurs by age 5. Children who receive high quality education by age five are 70% more likely to graduate from high school. Achievement gaps between children in poverty, and those from more affluent families become apparent by 18 months. When children start behind, they rarely catch up; But, when children are read to from an early age, they become better readers and students. Early reading experiences provide opportunities to build vocabulary and literacy rich environments that support development of pre-reading, and cognitive skills that ensure children are prepared for success in school and in life. Feeding the Mind. To address these issues, and help children develop reading skills, we provide books and do reading presentations at elementary schools.  SCHOLASTIC REPORTScholastic’s Kids & Family Reading Report (seventh edition) is a national survey with findings that support key principles Read to Them emphasizes, such as the importance of parental involvement and children reading for pleasure outside of school. Here are a few of the report’s key findings: 54%More than half of children ages 0-5 (54%) are read aloud to at home 5-7 days a week. This declines to one in three kids ages 6-8 (34%) and one in six kids ages 9-11 (17%). 83%When it comes to being read aloud to at home, more than eight in 10 children (83%) across age groups say that they loved or liked it a lot—the main reason being it was a special time with parents. 71%More than seven out of ten parents of children ages 6-17 (71%) rank strong reading skills as the most important skill a child should have, and more than half of kids (54%) agree. 75%Three out of four parents (75%) wish their children would read more books for fun, and more than seven out of ten wish their children would do more things that did not involve screen time. 51%Half of all children ages 6-17 (51%) are currently reading a book for fun, and another one in five (20%) just finished one. 65%Nearly two out of three children (65%)—up from 2012 (60%)—agree that they will always want to read books in print even though there are ebooks available. |
