Can Books At Home Spell Years of Extra Learning?

The 'achievement gap' is a problem that has some kids trailing, sometimes by multiple grade levels, behind their peers. Thanks to a slew of new research, the phenomenon has been traced to early education, and even to the years before a child even enters the school system.

What’s the biggest indicator of future school success? It’s not race, economic status or family structure: it’s a child’s access to early literacy opportunities, from the variety of words spoken to a child in the first three years of life to the number of books in the household.

In fact, a new study in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility found that kids who grow up in homes with many books get three years more schooling than children from bookless homes, completely independent of the parents’ education, occupation, and socio-economic status. According to the study abstract, that’s as great an advantage as having university educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father.

Can a child’s school success really be predicated on whether he had a few books around as a toddler? Crazy as it seems, signs seem to point to yes. Positive associations with literacy, such as hearing a mother’s speech or spending story-time with a caregiver, can create an environment where kids connect with words and reading at the same time that their brains are undergoing an incredible period of growth.

By the time he hits preschool, a child with these experiences will already have a basic familiarity with what books are—understanding, for example, how to turn pages—as well as listening skills and a general interest in books and the stories they contain. The many kids who have never read with a parent or played with a book will already be miles behind their counterparts on the first day of preschool, and they may never catch up.

The good news is that this is a simple problem to fix: get more books to the families that need them, and you’ll be boosting school success for a vast number of children. Want to make a difference? First Book and Reading is Fundamental are two organizations working hard to fulfill this need, and they need your help!

• First Book is a nonprofit committed to providing new books to child with limited access. Over the last 20 years, they’ve brought over 65 million books into preschools, daycare centers, and shelters. Get involved as a volunteer, donate, or find out how to get books for your community.

• Reading is Fundamental is the nation’s largest literacy organization, with a longstanding mission to provide books and literacy resources to underserved children. Just last year RIF provided over four million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources. Unfortunately, the majority of RIF’s funding was recently cut. You can help by contacting Congress and asking them to reinstate the funding that's kept RIF going for 40 years.

Photo credit: Dequella manera