Read to Succeed
- Emily Hutmaker
- Apr 11, 2016
- 2 min read
Many of you may have seen the following article recently shared on social media:
“Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, children who fail to demonstrate reading proficiency by the end of the third grade will be held back under S.C.’s comprehensive Read to Succeed Act, passed by the Legislature in 2014. If this provision of the law were currently in effect, 62 percent of tri-county third-graders would have been held back this school year based on their scores on the ACT Aspire test.”
This article is startling- 62% of third graders in the Charleston area would be held back…although this is a scary statistic, it is reassuring to know that there are dedicated educators and lawmakers out there ready to make a change.
What can we, as parents, do to help our children not fall into this category? There are ways to change this statistic and the earlier we start, the better!
1.Early Intervention-
The gap between the lowest and highest performing children is narrow in lower grades, but gets bigger as students get older. Start now! Kindergarten and first grade years are crucial to success in upper grades. Even preschool age children greatly benefit from early exposure to reading, books, letters, and letter sounds. “Recent research overwhelmingly suggests that for the vast majority of children reading problems are preventable if they receive additional support in the form of an effective early literacy intervention"(Pikulski, 1994;Wasik & Slavin, 1993).
2. Be your child’s advocate!
Ask for help. Do you have concerns? Trust your instinct if you don’t feel like your child is where they need to be. Don’t wait until it's too late. So many students don’t realize there is a problem until 3rd or 4th grade, or even later. This leads to great frustration, anxiety, and struggles with self-confidence, as well as falling grades.
3. Identify strengths and weaknesses and make a plan.
Work with teachers, administrators, and other professionals to determine what the child’s strengths and weaknesses are and the best way to help that child. Constantly look for ways to support your child. They need you as their advocate!
4. Read, read, read.
Begin at an early age and never stop. Reading not only helps prepare your child for success in school, but also creates a positive attitude and love for reading. Not only should you read to and with your child, you should model reading for your child- be it the newspaper, a novel, a magazine. Seeing a parent read shows children that it’s a lifelong skill and hobby!
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