Literacy a lifelong process that starts in childhood

Published 9:04 am Wednesday, February 8, 2017

A new program, made possible through grant funding, is helping families make reading a regular practice.

The Twin Lakes Library System recently launched Prime Time Family Reading Time, a program designed targeted to families with children ages 6 to 10. The goal is to get parents to not only engage in reading time with their kids, but also to discuss what is read.

The program focuses on helping to promote and encourage reading within families with children who are at-risk.

The need to foster reading skills development simply cannot be overstated.

Studies indicate that children’s literacy levels are strongly linked to the educational level of their parents, especially their mothers.

The thought is that if children read at home as a regular practice in addition to at school, it is more likely that their younger siblings will develop the same tendency, and children how grow up in a family environment where reading is commonplace are more likely to carry over the same practice into adulthood. Thus the cycle continues, where reading, and the value of literacy enhances their lives, their children’s lives and beyond.

Low level literacy skills not only impact the individual but they also have a significant affect on the community’s growth and development if locals are impacted. It is equally as much an individual’s issue as it is an issue for the whole community.

We must remember that literacy is a lifelong process for many of us and it must become a way of life for all of us if Baldwin County is to succeed.