First, the most important thing you can do to ensure the literacy of your own child is being involved. Research on the effects of parental involvement shows a consistent, positive relationship between parents’ participation in their children’s education and their children’s academic performance.
Reading to children and also homeschooling are a couple of ways for parents to increase their involvement and improve their children’s ability to read. Reading to children should be done as early as six months of age, as soon as babies develop an interest in the pictures and illustrations in books. Keep in mind that every child has a different attention span.
You can volunteer at libraries and schools, in already-established programs or programs of your own, by reading to children the books they cherish and by helping them to read these books on their own. Even just an hour or two a week of your time can go a long way in helping improve the literacy of children in your own community.
In the end, there should be a long-term solution to the literacy problem implemented in our schools, but there’s no sense in waiting on the sidelines and expecting your local schools to take care of the problem. In the meantime, be proactive and raise awareness. With your efforts and the efforts of those around you, the literacy situation will be confronted. However, without your help, this victory over illiteracy is not guaranteed.
