Once we sit down with our families around tables filled with all the delicacies Thanksgiving has to offer, we are launched right into the holiday season. Gifts are spotted in both storefront and online windows, but one vital present that may be flying under your radar? The gift of family literacy.
Earlier this month, we talked about how reading aloud to the child(ren) in your life is a necessity. Children who are read to are exposed to a wide-variety of characters and settings – some that are familiar, and some that enable them to discover new customs and ideals. Empathy can be built as children navigate the pages of a book, and a sense of connectedness can be shared as children read together with their families and in their classrooms.
But a study from the University of Virginia found that “below benchmark rates are still moving in the wrong direction, and a larger proportion of students than ever before are at high and medium risk for reading difficulties.” These losses could lead to an entire generation of children struggling to thrive beyond the elementary environment. Further findings by the Annie E. Casey Foundation show that students who struggle to read well in elementary school are more likely to not graduate on time or drop out of high school altogether.
Our work is more vital than ever, and you can help.
Over the course of the 2020-21 school year, Read to Them has put books in the hands of 506,577 students and their families across 1,241 schools in the United States. We could not have achieved this reach without our donors – nor could we already get started in expanding our reach for the 2022-23 school year.
For $6.95, you can help influence a child’s life by putting a book directly into their hands.
You can even have a recurring monthly donation of $13.90 to ensure that two children, no matter the time of year, can have access to stories and the wondrous gift of literacy.
Thanks to an incredibly generous donation from an anonymous donor, you have the opportunity to double your impact. For instance, if you give the gift of $10, our donor will match your $10 donation with another $10, to help ensure students have a book added to their personal libraries.
Reading aloud is a vital practice that all children can benefit from. David Zeltzer – author of “The Night Library” – lent his voice and his support to Read to Them during Read Aloud to a Child Week 2022. Zeltzer’s family read to him as a child, and it was an experience that was instrumental in “opening up [his] world.” And with the birth of his daughter, reading aloud is a gift that Zeltzer was very glad to pass down, as there is “nothing more loving” than sharing a story with someone you care about.
Click here to make your donation. Please know that we appreciate every gift, and know we are looking forward to forging a lasting partnership with you!
