Getting Parents to Read to Their Children

This post will deal with the sometimes nearly impossible task of getting parents to read to their young children.  The research on the benefits of reading aloud to young children is so strong this should be a given in every American household, but it isn't.  Developing strong readers should be on of our nation's strongest priorities, but it isn't.  Early childhood literacy is my passion.  Therefore, finding ways to get parents to read to their children will be one of my lifelong endeavors.

Why Don't Parents Read to their Children?
The list of excuses could go to the moon and back.  However, the main excuses are that parents are too busy with other things both personal and professional, some parents don't read well and are embarrassed to try to read to their children, and some parents do not see the need.  Whatever the excuse, the fact remains that some children will not have someone read to them at home.  If they are not in an another environment where they are read to regularly, these children will hit school with language deficiencies.  As child care providers, this is one of the most important jobs we do every single day.  If we do nothing else to promote language and literacy beyond reading many good books to the children each day, we will still accomplish quite a bit toward developing a love of reading in the children.  Sadly, not every child care provider reads to the children in his/her care every day.  Many times the children in these facilities are from homes where they do not have someone to read to them at home.  Then these children struggle with reading in school and grow up to be parents that do not read to their children.  This is a sad cycle that many great foundations, programs, and schools have set out to correct.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library
One foundation that I am quite familiar with is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  This foundation provides free books every month or so to children until their fifth birthday.  This program has put thousands and thousands of books into the homes of children in the state of Tennessee.  (I do not know if this program extends to other states.)  However, just because the book is in the home does not necessarily mean the book gets read.  There is a greater chance it will be read, but those parents that fall into the main group of excuses will still not read to their children.  I also know that many books go unclaimed and collect at certain distribution sites across the state.  I know this because many times these distribution sites will donate the books to local child cares and libraries.  We have many of those books at our facility.

What Some Schools Are Doing
Many schools around the country have gotten rather aggressive about parents reading to their children.  My grandchildren have just enrolled in new schools and both schools require the parents to read aloud to the children each night.  A planner is sent home, and the parents must document what was read and sign it.  Of course, some parents will sign the planner without actually reading to the children, but the youngest's school also has mandatory attendance for parent/teacher conference.  If a parent does not show up for his/her designated time, the teacher will show up at the child's home.  This school has 100% attendance for parent/teacher conferences.  A teacher can tell when a parent does not actually read by how the child is progressing in his/her lessons.  I am sure this is one of the main topics of discussion at these conferences.

The Traveling Suitcases
At my child care I have a sneaky way of getting parents to read to their children.  Many years ago I developed what has been called "traveling suitcases."  These consist of a clear backpack with a book, a prop of some sort (usually a stuffed animal that goes with the story), a journal for the parents, a drawing pad, and crayons.  Each Friday afternoon I bring out the traveling suitcases.  Every child 2 and older gets to choose one of the suitcases and take it home for the weekend.  I have half of the suitcases designated for 2 year olds and the other half is appropriate for 3 and older (the older children are allowed to take the 2 year old suitcases as long as the 2 year olds have already chosen).  These suitcases are a huge deal at my facility.  In all I now have 75 or more different books with props that are used for these suitcases.  I keep about 10 clear backpacks to use for the suitcases and store the others in large plastic bags.  I rotate in a new suitcase every week and read that story for afternoon group time on Friday.  If it is a long story, I will often only read half of it and tell them they will have to take this one home to hear the other half.

How has the program worked for me?  Honestly, it works fairly well.  Most of the time, those parents that don't read have the children tell on them when the suitcase comes back on Monday (or Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.).  Those parents will go out of their way to tell me when they read the book the next time.  Many parents have come in on Monday complaining about how many times they had to read the book over the weekend.  (That puts a smile in my heart.)  Keeping up with the suitcases can be extremely frustrating for preschool age parents, but I tell them this is training for library books in the future.  I have a rule that if the suitcase is not brought back by Friday morning, the child cannot take home another one.  After one Friday afternoon of having to deal with an extremely distraught child, the parents will normally be frantically bringing in suitcases on Friday morning to avoid another episode.  However, I have had parents that have refused to participate.  I have to replace crayons and drawing pads constantly.  Most of the time at least the book and prop come back intact, but I have lost suitcases entirely.  This was more of a problem when I was a bigger facility.  It seems to be less of a problem with a smaller group.  The benefits that these suitcases provide far outweigh the cost and hassle of maintaining them.  The language skills of the children at my facility far exceed the developmental norm.  Of course, these suitcases are coupled with a provider that takes early childhood literacy seriously to a fault.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.  Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at:  https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457