Kids & Family Reading Report

Posted by Scholastic on February 23, 2015

A Letter from the CEO of Scholastic

I am pleased to share with you the fifth edition of the Kids & Family Reading Report™ — a biannual survey of attitudes of children and parents toward reading.

The latest research touches on reading aloud to children of all ages, the impact of reading independently for fun at school and at home, the importance of frequent reading, and the books children want most to read.

Reading Frequency
Frequent readers are defined as children who read books for fun 5 or more days a week, compared to infrequent readers, who read less than one day a week. Children who read frequently say they enjoy reading, have parents who are frequent readers, and strongly believe that reading for fun is important. Among older frequent readers, this can lead to reading up to eight times as many books annually as infrequent readers, and, in my view, to stronger results in school.

Independent Reading
We know from the work we do with teachers that independent reading is supported widely by teachers. Our research found that 33% of children ages 6 to 17 say their class has a designated time during the school day to read independently, but only 17% do this every or almost every school day. This opportunity is particularly important for children from lower-income homes who are more likely than their higher-income peers to read books for fun in school and far less likely to read books outside of school.

While both children and parents agree that reading skills are the most important skills kids can have, children are reading somewhat less often than they did four years ago. In the home, especially for older children, reading competes with games on smartphones or computers, while at school, the majority of kids do not have a dedicated time for independent reading.

Reading Aloud
We know that reading aloud to a young child is a wonderful bonding moment, but the research also shows that reading aloud to children all the way up to age 11 is a powerful predictor that children will become frequent readers. While 73% of parents with children ages 0 to 5 say they started reading aloud to their children before age one, only 30% say they began before the age of 3 months, in accord with the recent recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents read aloud to children starting at birth. And kids love it: 83% of children of all ages surveyed say they loved or liked a lot being read aloud to and 40% of kids ages 6 to 11 whose parents have stopped reading aloud to them say they wish their parents had continued.

Choosing Books They Want to Read
Kids ages 6 to 17 report that they want books that make them laugh (70%), and 91% agree “my favorite books are the ones that I have picked out myself.” For Scholastic, it is encouraging that many children in the study rate school book clubs and school book fairs as important ways to find books they want to choose, read, and own—second only to finding books though the library.

We hope you will share the data and join the growing movement in support of independent reading both at school and home. Finding the right book and the right time can light an emotional spark within children that motivates them to read more, understand more, and read joyfully. When that happens, the world opens. Everything becomes possible. This is the message of Scholastic’s literacy initiative “Open a World of Possible.” Learn more at http://www.scholastic.com/worldofpossible.

Read full report here: http://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/Scholastic-KidsAndFamilyReadingReport-5thEdition.pdf?v=100