Many, many schools push 20 minutes of reading a day. And while using reading charts or similar methods may not be beneficial in the long run, sitting down to read for 20 minutes a day is. Especially if it’s done in an authentic way. Here are some statistics of reading 20 minutes a day:
Children who read 20 minutes a day are exposed to 1.8 million words in one school year.
They are also more likely to score in the 90th percentile on standardized testing.
There was also a study done on children reading 15 minutes a day that showed academic achievement and gains in regards to reading, but not as high as the students that read 20 minutes a day.
Students reading 5 minutes or less a day were more likely to fall behind their peers academically and needed intervention methods to bring them to grade level (statistics from kidskonnect.com).
Beyond just statistics and test scores, what are the other benefits of reading?
A widened imagination and higher levels of creativity.
Reading can help foster empathy.
It exposes children to multiple cultures, ideas, and worlds.
Reading improves writing skills.
It expands vocabulary.
Taking 20 minutes to read every day can boost mental health.
Improves critical-thinking skills.
Can encourage them to ask more questions when they don’t understand concepts in the book, such as why some cultures eat, drink, or act in the ways they do.
Have I convinced you yet?! Encouraging 20 minutes of reading a day can do wonders for children’s education. There are amazing benefits to it! Stay tuned for a blog post in the future on how you can foster a love of reading in your students as well.
Do you have academic research to back this up? I need to convince my principal that this is true. She refuses to accept it unless I have current research that shows reading 15 to 20 minutes a day independently of school will help a student succeed.
Christina, if you do a quick Google search it should bring up plenty of articles on the importance of reading 20 minutes a day. Here is a research study I found that also shows the positive effects of it:
https://www.shsu.edu/academics/education/journal-of-multidisciplinary-graduate-research/documents/2016/WhittenJournalFinal.pdf