This year at Our Lady of Grace we are trying to read a million minutes. We are keeping track and are getting close.
Of course preschoolers do not read on their own, so that means our minutes include being read to.
You can tell that the children are being read to, because they “read” on their own all the time. They choose storybooks from our library corner and create their own narratives. They move their fingers and eyes from left to right as they “read,” and anticipate what will happen from the pictures.
This will be a great skill to have once they are trying to decode words! It will help prepare them for a life of rigorous intellectual activity, a goal underscored by the Church’s own rich intellectual tradition.
Most important, though, is the children are learning a love of reading. This will not only enrich their own lives – and their children’s lives years from now – but all of society. We ARE a village … and it takes every one of us to care and support and love it. Reading helps in every way!!!