Throw the Book at Them! - Grandparents.com

The problem: Today's kids aren't reading nearly enough. The solution: Grandparents.

Young Americans are reading less, and reading less well, directly resulting in lower levels of academic achievement.

According to a recent National Endowment for the Arts report, “To Read or Not to Read,” 17-year-olds today read less than 13-year-olds do — and less than 17-year-olds did 10 years ago. Further, Americans ages 15 to 24 spend about two hours of their leisure time each day watching TV but only about seven minutes reading. Another report, from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the nation's "report card"), found that the percentage of young people who read for fun declines from 43 percent in fourth grade to 19 precent in eighth-grade. Clearly, as younger children move into middle and high school and become more socially active, they are even less inclined to read for pleasure. Of course, the Internet and other high-tech gadgets contribute to this problem.

The ramifications? Poor reading skills that will affect a child’s performance even in other disciplines, such as math and science, and will, according to the NEA study, eventually inhibit their advancement in the job market, adversely affect their earnings potential, and make them less likely to become active in civic and cultural life.

It's an alarming situation. Despite the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter books, kids still aren't reading enough, and literature remains up against some heavy competition as our grandchildren enter adolescence.

But there are some practical steps that we grandparents can take to reverse the trend and get kids reading as much as they should.

1. Read aloud with your grandkids every chance you get — even if they're already reading on their own. For a struggling reader, the pleasure of listening to you read may reignite his or her enthusiasm for books. Also, encourage older grandchildren to read aloud to their younger siblings.

2. Set an example. Be sure your grandchild sees you reading for pleasure, be it the newspaper in the morning, a book on the beach, a magazine at the doctor’s office, or a paperback tucked into your purse for a plane ride. They’ll quickly perceive the importance of reading to you.

3. Buy the kids books. Exposure to books in childhood is a critical predictor of academic success. Youngsters who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, even if their parents held college degrees, scored much lower in math tests than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books, even if their parents only completed high school.

4. Get library cards for your grandchildren, and take them on visits whenever you are in town. Explore the children’s section. Introduce them to the librarian.

5. Look for books that will excite their imagination. Think Harold and the Purple Crayon, Skippyjon Jones, or any Maurice Sendak or Roald Dahl book.

6. Play reading-related board games like Scrabble or Monopoly with younger children, and introduce older kids to beginning crossword puzzles or Sudoku.

7. Play the grandparent card. Let a grandchild stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter. Read a second bedtime story, even if it is past bedtime. Let him or her pick out an extra book at the bookstore. Where reading is concerned, it's okay to break the rules.