Owning your own book

With December coming, you can guess what we recommend as a great gift for your children . . . books, of course! 

Did you know that research suggests that the very act of owning books can influence a child's reading ability? In a study of Israeli students, high achieving students on average owned 10 times more books than low achieving students.

In another study, researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books yearly.  After doing this for three consecutive years they found that students who brought the books home had significantly higher reading scores than other students. In fact, just having those 12 books seemed to have as much positive effect as attending summer school.

In a NY Times article* about the above study, David Brooks quoted a philanthopist who regularly gives books to disadvantaged kids:

It’s not the physical presence of the books that produces the biggest impact, she suggested. It’s the change in the way the students see themselves as they build a home library. They see themselves as readers . . .

At Reagan Academy we hope to create a whole school of children that see themselves as readers! 

It doesn't have to cost a lot to buy a book.  Add a book to the presents under the tree or maybe Santa can stuff one in a stocking or give a gift card to Borders (kids love to use their own plastic card!) --whatever you do, try to add books to your gift giving traditions.  (Holiday traditions will be our next post in fact!)  In your search for a good book, don't forget this week's Scholastic book fair! (Dec. 6th-10th)

*Click here to read the NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/opinion/09brooks.html?_r=2