Thinking back on my childhood, I don’t necessarily remember my parents reading books to me for pleasure, but I do remember academics being extremely important in my household.
My mother did not work outside of the home even though she taught school for a few years prior to marrying my father. However, she was my designated tutor for many years. I do recall her making me complete workbooks over the summer so that I would be prepared for the upcoming year.
When I became a mother for the first time, I recall reading “Goodnight Moon” to my daughter over and over. I still have that book to this day and plan on sharing it with my first grandchild in the distant future.
It’s crucial that we capitalize on this narrow window of opportunity whereby we set children up for success. During these formative years, children are not only strengthening their cognitive development but also their social-emotional development.Â
I think I personally took for granted that I grew up in a home where both parents graduated from college and that they were committed to ensuring my future by providing food, shelter, and a nurturing environment.
Now remember this was the 70’s. There was no cable, we had a land-line phone, and it was forbidden to eat your meal in front of the television- the black and white one, I must add. You ate your meal at the dining room table, and you talked with the family. When you needed to research something for school, there was no computer but instead, an encyclopedia set. Who remembers those?
Dr. Denise Hooks-Anderson
My home was not full of fancy things, nor did they have endless resources in the bank. What they did have was an environment that allowed my siblings and I to thrive. My parents were my first teachers. They provided the foundation upon which my schoolteachers could build. Because of that support, I was able to achieve high literacy rates and math proficiency.
However, not all children were able to grow up in a situation like mine. A significant number of children grow up in homes where parents do not have basic proficiency in reading. Therefore, if there was no intervention, those kids could end up starting kindergarten extremely educationally delayed.
The brains of children develop rapidly from the ages of birth to 5 years. The capacity of educational attainment during this time is amazing. This is the exact reason that early childhood education programs are so important and the fact that President-elect Trump and his supporters are interested in dismantling the Department of Education and Head Start programs is quite concerning.
It’s crucial that we capitalize on this narrow window of opportunity whereby we set children up for success. During these formative years, children are not only strengthening their cognitive development but also their social-emotional development.
It is with that in mind that The American Academy of Pediatrics along with other national organizations like Reach Out and Read have made it a priority to encourage providers to promote literacy to parents and their babies or young children.
Providers are encouraged to provide books at well-child visits starting as early as 2 months. Parents are educated on the value of reading to their children regularly.
Research has shown that lower literacy rates are often correlated with higher incarceration rates. It is estimated that 50 to 70% of inmates have reading and writing skills below the basic level. So why would we be shocked at high recidivism with literacy rates like those?
Bottom line: reading to children early in their development and providing a safe, nurturing environment can improve outcomes later in life.
Denise Hooks-Anderson, MD, FAAFP, can be reached at yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com