Saturday, December 4, 2010 Access to printed materials does help
A lot, according to extensive research by RIF, Reading Is
Fundamental, a non-profit children's literacy organization based
in Washington, DC. Owning and borrowing books from the library
causes, "positive behavioural, educational and psychological
outcomes." In other words, kids who have access to books do
better socially and at school. (Does this sound familiar to
regular GKR readers? But I digress.) RIF found that having
access to printed materials: ...improves children's reading
performance. Children, and kindergarten students in particular,
read better when they're often surrounded by books. ...is
instrumental in helping children learn the basics of reading.
Kids who have lots of different books become better at
identifying words, being able to sound out words, and read
sentences. ...causes children to read more and for longer
lengths of time. There is more shared reading between parents
and children. Kids read more often and for longer stret