While we’re all on facebook and twittering…not to mention shopping on line and watching tv…it turns out that we’re not reading to our kids.
Leapfrog recently sent me the findings of a study they commissioned that indicated:
“While the majority of parents (83 percent) do read to their child daily, those who do spend an average of about 32 minutes reading, compared with a total of 209 minutes (approximately 3∏ hours) a day watching TV and browsing the Web.”
Does this surprise anyone? At first this looked really upsetting but if you’re really reading books with your child for 32 minutes a day (if that’s for real)…it’s a good start. It doesn’t mean that the rest of the day our kids should be plugged into the tv/computer. The problem I always had with my boys is that bedtime reading always became about one more book–and then you feel conflicted– after all you’re thrilled they want to read more…but at some point you realize it’s not about the book, but about not going to SLEEP!!!
LeapFrog is running a promotion in honor of National Reading Month…to inspire kids and parents to read one million hours. If you sign up, you’re in the running to win a TAG Reading System (We gave this electronic reading system our Platinum Award last year.)
For more details on the study, visit
Well this certainly describes me! But most of the TV watching and Web surfing is during nap time or after I get the kids to bed, at which point I am brain-dead so it’s not taking time away that from my kids that I otherwise would be reading to them.
Unless I read that wrong and the kids are watching 3 hours of TV a day… that would be ugly.
This also doesn’t mention any independent reading by the kids. For those that can already read, how much are they reading on their own throughout the day? While my younger child naps, the older one has to have some “quiet time” in his room and mostly he reads books and does puzzles. That can make his total reading for those days an hour and a half! Then when we read at bedtime, I can help him with pronunciation or definition of the more difficult words.
My concern is more with those who aren’t reading to their kids, or just barely reading one short book to get them in bed.