CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has launched a reading campaign bringing celebrity readers into the home via social media. The program is part of the Read for 20 Campaign. Research shows that if a parent or adult spends 20 minutes a day reading to a child, that child scores 90% better than their peers on reading tests. It exposes them to 1.8 million words a year.
Here are a few of the ways reading with a child for 20 (or more) minutes a day benefits him or her.
Reading is “brain food”
Reading improves listening skills.
Reading builds early literacy skills, expands vocabulary and knowledge.
Reading prepares children for kindergarten. Practice makes perfect.
Reading improves academic performance.
Through the CMCSS parent engagement program and the Read for 20 Campaign, Esperanza Soriano-McCrary and Zach Whitaker have been recording area celebrities reading children’s books. The videos of 16 readers launch during American Education Week, beginning November 13, on the school system Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/cmcssinfo/
Be sure to catch Director of Schools Millard House II on Sunday at 7 p.m. as he introduces the series of readers. Plan to gather the family around your electronic device every evening at 7 p.m. for bedtime stories from community leaders and friends. Watch each night to see who the surprise celebrity reader is going to be.
Readers are scheduled Nov. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30 and Dec. 1, 4, 5 and 6.