Why is 15 Minutes a Magic Number in Reading?

We get it! You are busy and finding the time to fit everything into your daily schedule is difficult, to say the least. But you keep hearing that 15 minutes of reading a day is necessary to prepare your child for school. We've got some tips to help you find the time to fit reading in, but why exactly is 15 minutes such a magic number in reading?

With 15 minutes of daily reading, your child is read to or reading for 5,475 minutes each year or 91 and a quarter hours! Compare that data to peers who are read to infrequently, if at all, for 1 minute each day - they're reading for approximately 365 minutes, or 6 hours, each year. Talk about a reading readiness gap.Why read aloud? Research from readaloud.org shows that reading aloud to your child is the number one thing you can do to help prepare them for success in future reading and learning. Children who are read to consistently from an early age pass their peers in language development, brain development, and literacy skill-building. These children will also gain a love of reading, gain knowledge through the books you read, and create special bonds with those people who take the time to read to them.If you are still struggling with finding the time to sit with your child and spend 15 minutes reading together, teach your child how to use Footsteps2Brilliance. This app, which is FREE to all Osceola County children, can read to them by pressing the speaker button and turning the pages with the arrows. You can then show them how to use the Book Buddies after each story to check their comprehension to challenge their minds even further. Now they are all set up to complete their 15 minutes of daily reading regardless of what life throws your way!Have questions about the Osceola Reads initiative or the FREE reading app for Osceola County students? Register here and start reading with your little ones!