Reading at Home
“Why Can’t I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight”?
Let’s figure it out mathematically!
2nd Grade Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week.
2nd Grade Student B reads only 4 minutes a night…or not at all!
Step 1:
Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.Student A reads 20 minutes x 5 times a week = 100 minutes/week.
Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes/week.
Step 2:
Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month.
Step 3:
Multiply minutes a month x 9 months in a school year.
Student A reads 3,600 minutes in a school year.
Student B reads 720 minutes in a school year.
As a result:
- Student A practices the equivalent of 10 whole school days a year.
- Student B practices the equivalent of 2 whole school days a year.
By the end of the 6th grade, if Student A and Student B maintain the same reading habits,
- Student A will have read the equivalent of 50 whole school days.
- Student B will have read the equivalent of only 10 whole school days.
One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably, and so, undoubtedly will school performance.
How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?
Some questions to ponder:
- Which student would you expect to read better?
- Which student would you expect to know more?
- Which student would you expect to write better?
- Which student would you expect to be more successful in school...and in life?
- Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?