Why Can't I Skip My 20 Minutes of Reading Tonight?
Let's figure it out mathematically. . .
Student A: reads 20 minutes, 5 nights every week. Student B: reads 4 minutes a night . . . or not at all
Step 1: multiply minutes read per night X 5 nights Student A: reads 20 minutes X 5 nights = 100 minutes Student B: reads 4 minutes X 5 nights = 20 minutes
Step 2: multiply minutes per week X 4 weeks per month Student A: reads 400 minutes per month Student B: reads 80 minutes per month or less
Step 3: multiply minutes per month X 9 months per school year Student A: 3600 minutes of reading per school year Student B: 720 minutes or less
Student A practices reading the equivalent of 10 whole school days a year. Student B gets the equivalent of 2 school days or less of reading practice.
By the end of 6th grade, if student A and student B maintain the same reading habits: Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days or less.
One would expect the gap of information and the fluency of reading will have widened considerably, and so, undoubtedly, will school performance.
Some questions to ponder: Which student would you expect to read better? Which student would you expect to know more? Which student would you expect to write better? Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary? Which student would you expect to be more successful in school . . . and in life?
