Literacy has become a large issue within the United States over the years and is rarely expressed in today’s society. There are many steps that can be taken to combat this before a person enters the real world after graduating high school. Children need to be read to at an early age to help them develop the skills needed to stay in the right levels in school and this will progress in to future success. It is hard to prove that illiteracy is a huge problem in the United States, but it still needs to be discussed. Illiteracy rates are not usually discussed because accurate rates are hard to prove. By researching how much a person benefits from being read to at an early age, it is easy to express that starting from a young age will help make the future illiteracy gap smaller. How does reading to children at an early age give them an advantage? It is proven that all children regardless of learning disabilities and handicaps have limitless potential, but things would be much easier if someone had recognized this and taken the steps needed to help them at a younger age. Researching the topic of early childhood education makes one more aware of how vital reading to a child as early as possible is to a child’s development. Child literacy organizations and pediatricians as well as the general public should encourage people to help want to learn more about the steps that can be taken to make the gap of illiteracy smaller. Reading to children starting at an early age has many positive outcomes and provides the children with numerous social and learning advantages, thus we should get parents and child care providers involved in the mission to help end child illiteracy.

Doctors address the most difficult thing about actually knowing if the techniques are working is knowing whether a child is grasping on to the things being read to them and obtaining these social skills. Dr. High also makes several different substantial points when discussing child literacy in her interview reported by Lily Rothman in Time news magazine. Rothman’s article is on the doctor’s perspective of the importance of reading to children. Dr. High addresses that the hardest part of testing the results of reading aloud to children is not being able to explicitly tell when a child is beginning to catch on to things being read to them. Dr. High says that it is important to be aware of what a parent is reading to their child (Rothman). In her interview with Rothman, Dr. High also includes that it is best to always read appropriate books to a child of any age because sure signs of early comprehension begin before the age of one (Rothman). Reading to children is already assumed to be proven as a positive and necessary thing in this article. The article decides to rather educate readers on the fact that what their child is being read actually does matter. If a child cannot speak or never seems to understand, it does not mean that the information being presented is not filtering in. The fact being that children begin to comprehend before the age of one not only clarifies the importance point about appropriateness, but also brings up a much more important issue. It helps show that children should be given individual attention because they comprehend as toddlers and skills could be advanced by being read aloud to them often. Lily Rothman similarly tries to further this argument more by adding specifically what types of books children should be read. In her article, she shows what types of books children should be read at each age range. If this information was presented to parents, it could help them to understand what the best options are for their children.

There have been countless studies to decide the best ways and techniques parents and teachers should use when reading to children to make them successful. A study conducted by Cathleen Soundy suggests that it is partly the responsibility of the child’s daycare provider or teacher to read to them every day and it is also imperative that it is being done in an engaging environment. Soundy begins her argument by talking about a child that is being read to who is fully engaged by touching the words and pictures. She says of the encounter, “Although the child has not yet acquired language, he is participating in a communicative act, one in which he is learning the forms of social interaction and seeing the visual representation of his environment on the printed page” (Soundy). This statement shows how much a child receives from the small amount of time it takes to read one children’s book. If a child’s environment is healthy, he or she will have a more constructive experience and positive outcome. The study shows facts regarding how much reading to children helps a child’s vocabulary skills and also encourages the environments where the child spends time to be stimulating. She creates the argument that the child spends an ample amount of time at a daycare provider or preschool and that they should be read to and receive individual attention while there each day. This is significant to the main argument because it further shows how essential it is for children to be read to and although the author’s point is that a child needs to receive individual attention, she also concludes that it is important to give children a wholesome reading background. Additionally, a YouTube video suggests that reading aloud to a child stimulates brain growth that consequently prepares the child for a better future. The video says that reading aloud to a child stimulates brain growth that consequently prepares the child for a better future. This video could be shown to parents and teachers to show how important it is for a child to be read aloud to at home as well as in the classroom. It will help further prove the point of reading to kids being an advantage when they get older because they will have better social skills while also being an entertaining way to learn more about it.

It is not only important for books to be stimulating and appropriate, but the environment needs to be as well. In an article by James Heckman, the importance of the environment in which a child grows up is narrowly discussed. Heckman’s main goal is to show how investing in the early environment of a child can affect his or her future. Heckman also concludes that environments that are not stimulating put a child at a disadvantage. “Third, cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional competencies are interdependent; all are shaped powerfully by the experiences of the developing child; and all contribute to success in the society at large” (Heckman). This quote Heckman adds in the article shows how everything that a child experiences at a young age contributes to their success and also contributes to society as a whole. It is imperative that this is understood because child literacy not only is helpful for a child, but society at large. Lily Rothman also address the socioeconomic attributes to child literacy and the steps that different organizations are taking to combat this in her report on why doctors say it is important to read to children. The report shows that family income levels and whether a child is read to or not are strongly related. The clear problem is that children that are born in to underprivileged families are put at a disadvantage in reading. Statistics show that families that have lower income levels are less likely to read to their children. There are many organizations that have recognized this problem and are trying to get books in to the hands of those less fortunate. Scholastic is one of the many organizations to acknowledge the problem and has begun donating books to an organization called Reach Out and Read that works with child doctors to get books in the hands of under privileged families. “But even in families that make 400% of the poverty threshold only 60% of children are read to daily” (Rothman 1). This statistic Rothman reports is a strong representation of the fact that income does affect a child’s chance of success in literacy. Although there is no proven evidence that not reading to children can leave a lasting effect on his or her future, it is good for a person to learn to read and develop skills if they were properly introduced at a young age. Another organization that is taking steps to combat child literacy is the Palmetto Project in South Carolina. The Palmetto Project is partnered with Imagination Station which also works towards the same goal. In the state of South Carolina, one-third of children do not have the literary skills needed to be successful in kindergarten. This staggering number is just the beginning for these children. Sixty-seven percent of the third graders in South Carolina cannot read at the correct grade level. “Children who fall behind in reading proficiency are more likely to drop out of school, be unemployed, and live in poverty” (Palmetto Project). Organizations that are helping children receive access to books at home like the ones discussed above are vital to helping lower the illiteracy rate. These establishments have found the literacy problem to be too great to ignore. The importance of reading to children is the sole purpose of these organizations and they are also finding different ways to give all children equal opportunities.

Reading aloud to children at early ages has been proven to be important to early success, but who reads to the child is also a controversial subject. Many feel as if a child needs multiple sources of reading to get a well-rounded introduction. In the article “Facts about Child’s Literacy” by the National Education Association, it is revealed that it is the parents who need to be reading to the child. The article does not disagree with the fact that the child benefits in many ways every time someone reads to them, but it is more efficient for the parent to do this. A child becomes more familiar with a parent’s voice and a stronger relationship will develop between the parent and child. “The Educational Testing Services reported that students who do more reading at home are better readers and have higher math scores; however, students read less for fun as they get older” (National Education Association). This statement concludes that children who read have advantages, but also shows the other problem that sometimes trying to force books on children causes them to appreciate them less. It is just as important to help a child learn to love books as well so they can continue to choose to read on their own in the future. A study performed by two credible and well-educated women, Adriana Weisleder and Anne Fernand, found that focusing on factual information that reveals that a vocabulary enriching environment will help an infant’s language development. In the study of two families of the same socioeconomic class, one infant was spoken to directly and the other was not. Evidence showed that later on the child that was spoken to had developed better language skills. The purpose of the study is to reveal facts about literacy, but also to give awareness on how much reading aloud to a child can affect his or her future. 

Books in general are vital to the progression of society. David Isaacs gives the reader background knowledge about books and how it was a privilege at one point in history to be able to own one because they were so expensive. This point shows that we need to be more respectful and grateful that we are able to have such easy access to the knowledge books bring us and give teach this lesson to children. He also introduces an interesting perspective on how books were burned in the past because they could sometimes make people think in certain ways that may lead them to rebel or act against what was considered to be appropriate. This was done in order to keep people away from creating new ideas and controlling what was available for people to see. Now we are able to freely read whatever we like and it is important to read to open the mind to new ideas. A real life example that Isaacs uses is the fact that he reads Huckleberry Finn to his own children at early ages because he does not want them to grow up with an idea of racism. He also helps the reader appreciate the fact that reading a book helps open a person’s imagination and that the earlier a child is exposed to that, the better off he or she will be. Books are the number one source for obtaining knowledge and being able to read is vital. Isaacs then goes on to say how important it is for children to be read to at an early age because it will help them to grow up appreciating literature. All of these different ideas about the importance of books shows that parents need to read to children to help guide their ideas and help them learn at an early age.

Helping to teach children the value of reading and guiding ideas is important, but there are also many other positive aspects of reading aloud to children. Social and literacy skills are two of the most important things people need to develop and these things become stronger with reading. Home life and other characteristics of a person can attribute to how fast they pick up on these skills, but there are also numerous steps that can be taken to help those that do not have the best home lives or the strongest reading characteristics. A study on the ability to pick up on literary skills and the influence of home life was conducted by Sara Miles of Stanford University. It showed that there was a strong relationship with children coming from low-income families being less able to learn compared to others in the first few years of schooling, but it did decrease over time. The study determines that although there may be a decline in the effects on literacy as time goes on, it still shows multiple other negative aspects in not reading to children starting at early ages. “Research on social comparison indicates that as children get older, they become more aware of their performance compared with peers and assess their relative skills more accurate” (Miles). This excerpt shows an example of a negative aspect because it indicates that as a child gets older, he or she tends to compare themselves to their peers and will start recognizing the traits that they are missing due to the lack of developing reading skills at an earlier age. It also addressed the relationship between aggression and illiteracy and showed that there is a trend gathered as the child got older. In an interview with Fox News, Dorothy Bush gives another real-life perspective on the literacy issue. She says that her literary skills were formed because of her mother reading to her as a child. It is said that the first three years of life are critical in brain development and the earliest learning experiences for a child are what influence each child’s language development. Dorothy has partnered with the organization, Talk With Me Baby, to help encourage parents to talk to their kids and read to them very early on. Dorothy is committed to raising awareness on the importance of the subject and has many plans to help parents learn what they should do. Child literacy not only helps a person in the first few years of development, but also contributes to the overall well-being of the person psychologically as he or she ages.

Parents should begin reading to children as early as infancy because it sets the child up for success. Although a child’s attention span is much shorter at younger ages, the importance of hearing words and language development is just as important, maybe even more so. It is especially important for the parent to give the child individual attention because it can help build a stronger relationship between the parent and child. The different techniques of reading to children, what books are being read, and the individual attention that a child should receive are all important factors to the success of the child, but the basic and most important idea is that parents should read aloud to children in any way possible. 
