1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless.
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is graciously sponsored by The Friends of the Woodbury Public Library. Want to help continue this great program? Consider donating today! All donations are tax deductible.
How Does it Work?
- Visit the Woodbury Public Library and pick up a counting log.
- Read aloud to your baby, toddler or preschooler.
- Count each book, even the repeated titles!
- Turn your log in after every hundred books to get a sticker, bookmark and to move your child’s star up our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Wall.
- After 1,000 books your child will earn their Reading Award Certificate, have their picture taken for our wall of fame (optional), and is reading ready for Kindergarten!
reading aloud is the single most important thing you can do to help a child prepare for reading and learning.
Research shows children whose caregivers read to them often, and are frequently exposed to other literacy experiences such as singing, rhyming, and yes, even talking, have an edge when it comes to being ready to learn to read when they enter school. Research shows that engaging in early literacy activities at home helps prevent reading difficulties later in school and promotes positive attitudes toward reading. Most important, reading together is fun!
Need more reasons to read aloud to your kids? ReadAloud.org says it perfectly:
- The number of words a child knows upon entering kindergarten is a key predictor of his or her success.
- When you read aloud, your example demonstrates that reading is important, fun, and valued.
- Reading to your child builds vocabulary, phonics, familiarity with the printed words, and comprehension. In short, reading aloud builds literacy skills.
- Reading aloud is a great way to bond with your child.
Still not convinced?
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has found that 26 percent of children who were read to three or four times in the last week by a family member recognized all letters of the alphabet. This is compared to 14 percent of children who were read to less frequently.
The NCES also reported that children who were read to frequently are also more likely to:
- Count to 20, or higher than those who were not (60% vs. 44%)
- Write their own names (54% vs. 40%)
- Read or pretend to read (77% vs. 57%)
The 30 million-word gap.
A landmark study by Betty Hart and Todd Risley (1995) found that some kids heard 30 million fewer words by their fourth birthdays than others.
The kids who heard more words were better prepared when they entered school, and by the time they got to third grade, had bigger vocabularies, were stronger readers, and got higher test scores. What does this mean?
The kids who started out ahead, stayed ahead. The kids who started out behind, stayed behind.
The good news is, just 15 minutes of reading to your child per day is enough to make a difference. If you read 15 minutes a day, every day for five years, you’ll read for 27, 525 minutes, or 456.25 hours!