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Schools work together to provide books for library
Fort Scott, Kan. -- For the second year in a row, both Winfield Scott Elementary and Eugene Ware Elementary schools are promoting a greater amount of parental involvement in the lives of children.
Both schools worked together to purchase 400 children's books, which were donated to Mercy Birthplace at Mercy Health Center and Mother to Mother Ministries.
"This way we get books into kids hands earlier and earlier," Winfield Scott Principal Dave Elliott said.
According to Elliott, the schools are required to spend a certain amount of their allotted federal funds on parental involvement. The books the schools donated to the hospital and to Mother to Mother last year were nearly depleated. This year's donation will allow both the hospital and Mother to Mother to continue sowing into the lives of children.
Although many parents may not think reading to their children at an early age is important, recent studies have proven language development in children begins while they are very young, according to WebMD, www.webmd.com.
"This study shows relations between reading to children and children's language and cognitive development begin very early," the Web MD Web site said, "and implies that parent-child book reading and other language-oriented interventions for vulnerable children should begin much earlier than had generally been proposed."
After studying a group of more than 1,000 families, researchers found mothers who began reading to their children at an early age had toddlers who had developed good language comprehension, larger more expressive vocabularies and greater cognitive development at ages 2 and 3 than children who didn't have the same exposure, according to the Web MD Web site.
According to information printed on a bookmark provided by the schools, reading to children while they are young not only helps increase their language skills, but also helps in a variety of other areas.
"It (reading) gives you great one-on-one time with your child," the bookmark reads. "Reading at bedtime creates a routine that kids enjoy ... Kids who are read to are eager to become good readers. From birth to kindergarten, a child who is read to 20 minutes a day absorbs 600 hours of structured language. Reading to your child helps them learn letters, letter sounds and rhyming words. Reading to your child helps them to be successful in school. Being successful in school increases the range of choices available when they become an adult."
According to Eugene Ware kindergarten teacher Kelli Woodring, it is important to help children find pleasure in reading books. Finding ways to ensure a child's enjoyment in reading will help keep them reading.
"Enjoyment in reading is the most important," Woodring said. "Relating books to interests and pleasures will always keep students wanting more."
Although school teachers have a responsibility to teach children how to read, parents play a huge role in the education of their children as well, according to Eugene Ware fifth grade teacher Glenda Miller.
"Parents are the first teachers in their children's lives," Miller said. "A child that gets to hear a good book at bedtime will have a memory for life of the wonderfulness of spending time with a parent. This memory will carry on to the next generation as they read to their children. Research shows that children learn the most and the easiest during their early years. When they go to school, the doors which have been cracked open then burst open to a flood of information and learning that helps them become life long learners. They develop a taste for knowledge. With a good book, they can be anyone they want, go anywhere they want, and do anything they want. Love is shared with a good book, lots of discussion, smiles and laughter. That is the way it was at my house. It was my favorite time of the day."