GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — 25 million children in the United States cannot read proficiently, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
That statistic is one of the reasons FOX 17's parent company "E.W. Scripps" created the public charity "The Scripps Howard Fund".
Each year, the fund hosts the "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign, a childhood literacy campaign that has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation and even in Grand Rapids.
Three schools within Grand Rapids Public Schools benefit including East Leonard Elementary, Kent Hills and Cesar Chavez.
The 2023 campaign raised $45,096 thanks to the community, FOX 17 and a generous $15,000 gift from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. That money provided a total of 3,585 books to the young people in our community.
Developing that passion for reading is crucial, according to Jim Trelease, author of the best-seller, The Read-Aloud Handbook. "Students who read — read the most, read the best, achieve the most and stay in school the longest. Conversely, those who don't read much, cannot get better at it," he said.
As students will soon be out of school for the summer, experts say many will experience the "summer slide", a regression in academic proficiency due to summer break. Experts warn the slide is hindering kids' progress when they head back-to-school.
According to the Northwest Evaluation Association, a study of children in third to fifth grades showed that students lost, on average, about 20% of their school year gains in reading. That loss tends to have a snowball effect as they experience subsequent skill loss each year.
Scholastic says children in kindergarten through second grade are prone to the most learning loss, because they're at a crucial stage in their development. Children from low income families are also disproportionately affected by the summer slide in ways that can affect them for years into their education.
Scholastic says in order to prevent this, children should choose what they want to read as kids won't gain as much from summer reading if they aren't truly enjoying it.
To learn more about the "If You Give a Child a Book..." campaign, click here. If you're interested in donating to help childhood literacy efforts, click here.
