Introduction
READ TO KIDS: KANSAS
Many people find it hard to believe that reading to kids is the single most important
thing you can do to help children become good readers. Jim Trelease, a pioneer in the
reading to children movement has said, "Most people don't believe me when I tell them
that reading aloud is the single most important factor in reading success. They don't
believe me for three reasons: One, it's simple. Two, it's free. And three, the child
enjoys it. Believe me, if this stuff required a master's degree and a $149 machine, we'd
have it in half the homes of America. And if kids hated it, we'd have it in every
classroom! But if it's simple and fee, how much good can the thing be?"
But it's true! The 1985 U.S. Department of Education report, "Becoming a Nation of
Readers" reviewed 20 years of reading research and found what generations of parents,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, babysitters and kids have known:
"The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading to children."
The purpose of Read to Kids--Kansas is the goal that every child in Kansas, from the
age of six months to ten years, will be read to (by parents, if possible) for twenty
minutes, every day.
We find most people agree with this goal. and there are many ways of achieving it. It
is the purpose of these materials to give your club, group, church, institution or entire
community ideas on how to reach the goal in your area. We believe this is a communinity
project that can be helped by others, but which needs to be done locally to be most
successful.
