NCFL challenged its hometown, Louisville, KY, to become a leader in literacy. Sharon Darling’s letter to Louisville outlines literacy statistics in Jefferson County. She points out that 27.4% of the working age population has deficient literacy skills. 47,000 adults (25+ years) do not have high school diplomas, and 21% of families with young children have annual incomes below the poverty line. As the wealth of research regarding literacy has shown (thank you NCFL, for contributing so vastly to this collection), parents’ education and income level are the most consistent predictors of a child’s success in education.

A great first step toward improving your family’s literacy success is making reading, speaking, and writing with your children a fun family routine. Verizon and NCFL’s Thinkfinity provides a variety of resources for parents who want to make reading a family event. The NCFL magazine “Cultivating Readers” is available for download or purchase. This magazine provides tips and activity ideas for parents who want to raise children who love to read. The magazine has activities aimed at children aged birth – 2 years old, 3 – 5 years, 6 – 8 years.

This holiday season, help Better World Books support National Center for Family Literacy’s efforts to improve lives all over our country by shopping at BetterWorld!

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