Guest Post from Read Aloud 15 MINUTES
Before elementary school. Before kindergarten. Before preschool. Your child is learning. Not just learning – learning at lightning speed from the day he or she is born.
Science has proven that birth to age 5 is perhaps the most important period of development in a child’s life. During this time, your baby’s brain will make trillions of connections between billion of neurons. The brain size doubles during the first year, and by age 3, a child’s brain has nearly reached its adult weight.
That’s why the non-profit group, Read Aloud 15 MINUTES, wants all parents to read aloud to their very young children for 15 minutes a day.
“Parents and primary caregivers are the people in the best position to grow their baby’s brain,” says Read Aloud 15 MINUTES Co-Founder and President, Dr. Candace Kendle. “No one else is there, right from birth, like a parent. No one else can, talk, sing, play and read aloud to a child like a parent can. And, of course, no one cares like a parent cares.”
Throughout the month of March, Read Aloud 15 MINUTES and its more than 1,400 partners across all 50 states are devoting their messaging to those twin themes: the key window of brain development from birth to age 5, and parents’ vital role during that time.
“We strongly believe if parents understood how important their role is as first teacher, and the difference that reading aloud for 15 minutes every day from birth can make, they would absolutely do it,” says Co-Founder and Executive Director, Bob Robbins. “When parents understand that talking, playing, singing and reading aloud are not enhancements, but are instead requirements, for their child’s development, we will see huge leaps in children’s readiness for school and life.”
March is Read Aloud Month. Start today. Start now. Read Aloud 15 MINUTES, today and every day, and grow your child’s brain.
Read Aloud 15 MINUTES is a non-profit organization that is working to make reading aloud every day for at least 15 minutes the new standard in child care. When every child is read aloud to for 15 minutes every day from birth, more children will be ready to learn when they enter kindergarten, more children will have the literacy skills needed to succeed in school, and more children will be prepared for a productive and meaningful life after school. For more information, visit www.readaloud.org.