Cass County Reading Railroad literacy 20-minute miracle

A campaign to change lives in Cass County, Indiana by supporting parents as their child's first teacher,
to help them achieve their utmost by Kindergarten and first grade.

Read Together 20 minutes
Every Day!

Studies have shown that 74% of children who leave third grade reading below grade level never catch up.

Reading to your child for 20 minutes a day can help make sure he or she stays on track! Reading to a child 20 minutes a day, from birth on, will give the child the skills needed to become a proficient reader. Twenty minutes a day — it's as simple as that!

We know you're busy — fixing meals, laundry, after school activities, work — they all take precious time. But it's easy to find 20 minutes each day to read to a child.

What’s at stake

Reading is the key to academic success and employment opportunities. Yet, only 30 percent of Indiana fourth graders and 28 percent of our eighth graders are at or above the “proficient” level in reading.

According to national research, how well a person will read as an adult is predictable as early as the first grade. Most students who are poor readers in their early elementary years remain poor readers in high school and are less likely to graduate from high school.

Source: The Indiana Youth Institute, www.iyi.org, Spring 2006.

Stay on track with
the Reading Railroad

If you haven’t been reading daily with your children, the good news is that it’s never too late to start! The Reading Railroad’s mission is to provide busy parents with helpful tips and the necessary tools to help parents remember to read with their children 20 minutes every day. Daily reading time is not only a priceless investment in your child’s future, it’s a precious gift of time well spent today. Get on board. Make every minute count.

Here are some fun and easy ways to incorporate daily reading into your busy schedule: (All these suggestions equal approximately 10 minutes of reading time).

While eating morning breakfast, read the cereal box
Read the road signs as you drive
In a restaurant, read the menu or the paper place mats (many of them have games printed on the back)
Take your child grocery shopping — there are thousands of things to read!
Busy doing laundry? Have your child read to you while you work
Reading the newspaper? Read the comics with your child
Turn off the TV and read for a few minutes
Bedtime stories — not only a great reading opportunity, but also a nice way to help your child wind down
Bath time! While the children are playing and washing, read to them
Waiting at the doctor’s office? auto mechanic? spouse's workplace? dentist? Read the magazines and brochures in the waiting room
Have children read to each other or to you while you're driving
Read to you child while he or she is getting a haircut