One of my greatest memories as a child was when my mom would read aloud to me. Not only did I love being read aloud my favorite story (The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein) but I also loved the cuddle time with my mom. Research from the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report ™: 6th Edition has shown that I am not alone in this sentiment. The report uncovered that kids ages 6–11 and their parents agree that they love read aloud time, with the top reasons being that it is a special time together and reading together is fun.
To help spread the importance of reading aloud, Scholastic has teamed up with the non-profit organization Read Aloud 15 MINUTES and pledged to participate in the #21DayReadAloud challenge—a campaign to encourage reading aloud to children starting from birth during the month of October and beyond!
The campaign officially kicked-off the beginning of October, but it’s never too late to join! Interested participants are encouraged to join the challenge anytime during the month and keep it going for 21 days—it’s proven if you do anything for 21 days, it becomes a habit!
Are you ready to join the #21DayReadAloud challenge? It’s simple! All you need to do is read aloud with a child in your life and keep it going for 21 days (or longer!) and share on social media using #21DayReadAloud.
And remember, reading aloud to older children is just as important as it is for babies. The data shows there is still a significant drop in frequency after ages 5 and 8. Reading aloud doesn’t have to be from picture books – take a read aloud journey with your older children and enjoy a chapter book or even a series!
Looking for read aloud suggestions? Here are a few favorite titles parents told us they find themselves reading to their kids over and over: Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Curious George, Pete the Cat, Llama Llama
To learn more about the challenge and access read aloud resources visit: http://www.readaloud.org/21daychallenge.html
