April 30, 2009: Parents urged to read to kids
Thursday, April 30, 2009
By JEANETTE DeFORGE
Reprinted with permission.
SPRINGFIELD - Reading guru James J. Trelease wants everyone to know a "dirty secret." It isn't really the fault of teachers that two-thirds of city children are not proficient readers when they finish third grade.
Parents are children's first and most-important educators. They spend more time with their children, they decide if children have access to newspapers, books and libraries and they should be reading to children 20 minutes a day, said Trelease, a Springfield author of the best-selling "Read-Aloud Handbook."
He joined with school Superintendent Alan J. Ingram, members of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, local business leaders and others at the Springfield Central Library to kick off an all-city initiative to ensure children have the skills they need to be proficient readers by age 9.
Read the full article on masslive.com...
