What Reading Does for a Child's Future

Student reading to State Rep Joaquin Castro at annual
Reading Cafe at Cameron Elementary School in  San Antonio, Texas

There are many issues that keep people from moving forward to a life that they visualize in their minds and hearts.  Something as simple and fundamental as reading can hold people back for a lifetime.  Reading is something that those of us, who do it routinely, take for granted.  Not everyone has the luxury of understanding what they read, so they are left out of many opportunities that life has to offer.  Many people live in shame and instead of helping, we have a tendency to criticize people that can not express themselves as well as we do.

According to Click Press, "Literacy experts say that the ability to read could be the single most accurate predictor of success in life. Research shows that people who have strong literacy skills are more likely to have higher self-esteem, better health, better jobs and higher wages than those who don’t have basic reading skills (Grasmere Primary School). However, nationally, Latino and African American teenagers have the lowest literacy rates – one in four teens and one in five teens respectively read below the basic reading levels.1 (National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). That’s one reason why Dylan Pritchett, author and renowned storyteller, brings the joy of listening to stories to students all over the country, with more than 200 performances a year in schools, libraries and youth organizations. 


A San Antonio based women's business organization, Sistas in Business has a community involvement program called Read and Lead, and they have found that taking children out into the community to read, builds self confidence; improves behavior; improves reading skills and test scores; improves speaking skills and improves relationships with individuals from all walks of life in the San Antonio community