Why Having Books in Your Home is Vital to Your Child's Reading Success

While you may have heard that having books in your home is important, it may not be obvious why this can make a real difference in your child’s life.

Studies show that the presence of books leads to higher education levels.

According to First Book, access to books at a young age gives your child a greater chance of achieving a higher level of education down the road.

Children learn from the adults in their lives.

If reading is important to influential adults in a child’s life, it will be important to them. Literary enthusiasm and a love for learning transfer to a child’s academic habits, helping them be ready for kindergarten and beyond in their education.

Keep books of all types and levels around.

When your child sees you enjoying books for pleasure, they pick up on how important reading is. Your home library doesn’t need to be full of just children’s books to have an impact on your little ones. Seeing fiction, non-fiction, comic books, and more for readers of all ages is great for teaching children that reading is a lifelong skill. While reading to your child is important, it’s just as crucial for them to see that you enjoy reading independently. We suggest establishing a reading time during the day when your child can read their books (this may start with them looking at the pictures to figure out the story) while you read a book of your own.

The Osceola Reads Read-Aloud Challenge

provides a great opportunity for families to make reading a habit.

Find inexpensive ways to give your child exposure to books.

Even if we want to have a full library in our homes, most of us cannot continuously purchase books. But don’t worry; there are ways around this.

• Register your child for Footsteps2Brilliance, a free reading app for all Osceola County residents. With Footsteps2Brilliance, your child will have access to over 15 digital libraries of books that vary in reading level from pre-k through second grade.
• Get your child their own library card and make regular trips to the library a family routine. That way, you can have a rotating library of books and enjoy new stories for a few weeks at a time. Keeping reading fresh is fun and free at your local library!
• Take advantage of online read-aloud libraries, such as Storyline Online.

Whether you have a library full of books in your home or depend on the library and digital resources to keep books readily available for your child, it’s important to remember that all reading is wonderful for a child’s development.For more tips and resources, visit our parent resource page.