Stunning Child Literacy Stats Infographic

Stunning Child Literacy Stats Infographic

Child literacy is one of the most important predictors of future academic and professional success.

But these statistics tell a story that must be heeded by parents across the education, income and class spectrums. Perhaps most stunning, the mere presence of 20 books in a home erases all parental education, income and class disparity for children, and simply reading to a child 3 times a week makes him or her twice as likely to achieve in the top 25% in reading.

This collective research has profound implications for parents who assume that reading and writing are something that can wait — something that will be taught later on in school.

Contra to that thinking, it's essential that parents begin engaging their children with words, books, reading and writing exercises just as soon as children are able to engage in those activities.

But let's take a closer look at the stats:

1. Start Early!

1in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. In the first 3 years, infants and toddlers begin acquiring the first of thousands of words they will use throughout their lives.

2. Just Talk!

Parents who talk to their kids through daily activities expose them to 1,000 to 2,000 words each hour. Children whose mothers frequently spoke to them as infants learned almost 300 more words by age 2 than children of mothers who did not.

3.Reading With Your Kids

Education and income levels have an unfortunate impact on child literacy. But the mere presence of books is powerful enough to overcome that impact.

Children who grow up in homes with at least 20 books get on average 3 more years of schooling than students from bookless homes - regardless of parental income, education or class.

50%

Why choose books over TV? Because children's books contain 50% more rare words than primetime television or even conversations among college students.

25%

Children who are read to at least 3 times a week y family members are twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children read to less than 3 times a week.

Move on to see how a child's vocab grows through the years.