If you are the parent of a child under the age of five, you will definitely want to read this post.
Books have been a life long passion of mine. Even now as an adult, once I find a good book, it’s hard for me to put it down. The love that I have for books is the same love that I want for children to have for them. My oldest who is now 12, have been reading full chapter books since kindergarten. Yes, you read that correctly. Her very first chapter book was Goosebumps: Welcome to Horrorland. By the summer leading into her first-grade year, she had already completed the entire series. In second and third grade she read the entire Harry Potter series, and in fourth grade, she read the first Twilight book. Even at 12, it is difficult to find books that she hasn’t read, or that I think she should read (currently she is on another Rick Riordan series, and reading the Red Queen series simultaneously). Seriously, the girl reads so much, that the only punishment we could ever have for her is to take her books, and because I love books so much, I could never do that to her!
I would love for all of my children to have that same enthusiasm, but I know that chances are that at least one or two of them will not, and that’s okay, as long as they understand that reading every day is important.
This is why I love the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. The premise of the program is this: the goal is to have 1000 books read before your child starts kindergarten. Simple right? Of course, it is! One book each day for three years is all it takes. And if you start early on, you will complete the program early on, and if you continue until the age of 5, you would have surpassed the amount needed.
Why is this program important?
Focusing on literacy early on increases reading readiness. It helps early language skills and will help contribute to positive home experiences. Reading books aloud to your children is an excellent way of increasing phonological awareness-identifying the alphabet and practicing sounds.
Reading also allows you to prepare your child for kindergarten. Books can encourage and reinforce skills in math, science, social studies and of course language arts. Allowing children to make connections early on is a powerful tool that can be used as they continue through school.
Teaching a child to activate his prior knowledge begins with modeling how to make connections through think-alouds. As the caregiver reads, he can express the connections he is making from the text to himself, to the world around him and to other texts he has read. There are ample opportunities for a caregiver to model this behavior as he shares books with his child.-Liz Bowie
The books your child reads during this time reinforces knowledge and creates new experiences for them, preparing them for school.
Over the next few months I will be sharing our progress through the program, as well as providing information on various books you can read to your child. Many local libraries have this program available for families to sign-up, however, if yours does not, talk to them about starting one. Also, the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten also has an official app for the iPhone and Andriod phones. The app is simple: sign up, add your children and as you complete books log them. I will tell you not all books are listed. So you may have to scan the barcode of the book, or manually.
If your family is completing the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, tag us on social media using the hashtag #gngreads1000, we would love to share photos of fellow readers from all over!
Do you have any great book suggestions to share? Drop them below and we will include them in a future post! Happy Reading!
Love of impromptu dance parties, 80’s cartoons, and horizontal life pauses (aka naps); Natasha Brown is a stay at home mom of 4 kids, and wife to one lucky guy! In her spare time, she is co-editor of Grits & Grace, as well as editor for The Mother Hustler Blog and Creative Director for the Mother Hustler podcast.
I love this program. My 17month old and I are working towards book #700. She loves books!
This is really awesome! I truly believe that reading is fundamental and important! I am currently homeschooling a 5th grader and Kinder (read alouds are included in my daily curricula), but have an almost 1 year old that I can definitely start this process with.
We used to homeschool,and I definitely attribute our success starting off, with this program. Early literacy has so many benefits,and for my kids, it made them want to learn even more about a variety of subjects. I miss homeschooling my older ones, but I am actually unschooling my younger two children.
Can’t wait to start this with my niece!
Ohh my kids would LOVE this! Especially my son! How exciting <3 Thank you for sharing!
Wow I’ve never heard of this app before. Thanks for sharing info about it, I will go check it out. Three kids under the age of 10 (boys), I could use some help.
You’re very welcome!
I love this program! I heard about it recently from a friend while reading at the library! We LOVE books too. So fun watching my kindergartener begin to ready :)!
That is quite a lot of books. I think it’s worth researching especially after the comments on your review. The more they get in the habit, the larger it will grow, I suppose. My son is in kindergarten and his school requires 10 mins a day rather than qty. it’s interesting to compare.
It is a lot, but at one book a day for three years, its not so bad. My older kids school requires 20 minutes a day for my 3rd grader and one hour for my 7th grader. Getting them in the habit early on has made it easier for them to adjust to the longer required reading times as they have gone through school.
This seems like an awesome program. I had never heard,of the 1000 books before kindergarten, but I’m for sure checking it out now. I typically read to my daughter and son at night before bed and she loves it. He’s only 3 months, but gotta start them early
What a brilliant idea, reading is so important. it astounds and scares me when I meet children who have never had a book read to them. Both my children love reading books and love being read to!
Thank-you .. I hadn’t heard of the program before! I sent the link to your post to my daughter .. she’ll love referencing it for my grandson 🙂
This is great! I will have to look into this for my son! Thank you for sharing!
Love this! Reading is so important to start at a young age. I only hope my girls will be half the reader your daughter is.
I’m totally signing up my son for this!
This program is amazing…can’t wait to look into it further for my girls! We love to read…books are such a joy!
How was I not aware of this program? We are book crazy in this family. And I even sell Usborne Books. Getting started today. Thanks so much for sharing!
SO important!!!! I am so thankful my girls love storytime and hope that continues!!!
Reading is SO important! My parents enrolled me in several book of the month clubs when I was young.
Early literacy is very important for those school years. I started off by reading to them as babies. My son went into Pre-K reading and his teacher was surprised. She told me a lot of 4 and 5 year olds come into pre-k with little to no literacy skills. I am glad I saw my hardwork paid off because now I have two accelerated readers. Hopefully I can get number 3 on board before it’s time for him to start school but he is my stubborn one. Great post. -Breyona Sharpnack
I LOVE this! How have I never heard of it before?! Downloading the app right now! Can’t wait to see where we’re at!
This is an amazing idea! I don’t have the time to read nearly as much as I’d like to, but reading has always been a big part of my life. I want so badly for my boys to share that love and this seems like such a great way to get them on that path!
Fantastic! I have been patient with my boys and their reading and never pushed it but always read to them. My oldest finally found a passion for reading at 8 and devours books now. My second is turning out the same. In fact, he received a book set for Christmas. Total of 6 books at around 200 pages each and he will finish it up before the ball drops to ring in the new year. It amazes me!
we need to jump on this! my son will be in Kindergarten in August!
This is a great idea, my son loves books!! He isn’t old enough to read on his own yet but he loves looking at the pages while potty training.