A biennial national survey of parents’ and children’s reading attitudes and behaviors.
Kids’ reading enjoyment, frequency and sense of importance continue to decline with age
The latest data from children ages 6-17 reconfirms that reading books for fun, as well as positive sentiment towards reading, decrease as kids grow up, with marked declines by age 9 that do not rebound. The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report has been tracking these reading attitudes and behaviors since 2010, finding both a long-term decline in frequent readers as well as a beneficial relationship between a child’s reading frequency and their own feelings of enjoyment and importance of reading books for fun. For additional data and more on these findings, visit Reading Lives of Kids and Parents.
An opinion piece in The Washington Post discusses the current literacy crisis amongst kids including these trendline findings, and talks with Sasha Quinton, EVP and President, Scholastic School Reading Events, about what can be done to reignite a passion for reading. Read the full article here.
Reading’s impact on kids’ mental health
Half of parents of 6- to 17-year-olds (51%) believe their child’s mental health was negatively affected by their pandemic experiences. Dr. Linda C. Mayes, MD, Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology, Director of the Yale Child Study Center, and a steering committee member for the Yale Child Study Center-Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience, digs deeper into the research, including how families and educators can foster mental health through reading. Read on.
Summer Reading
Children are still playing catch-up from the pandemic, making summer reading even more important. Scholastic Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Amanda Alexander, contextualizes this data and shares how educators can help strengthen summer reading connections with families. Read the article here.
Download the full, printable summer reading infographic here.
Families need more summer reading information & resources
96% of parents believe that summer reading will be helpful to their children during the school year, but they don’t know the “why.”
Kids like summer reading!
61% of kids enjoy summer reading and they most want chapter books, picture books and graphic novels.
Keep kids engaged
52% of kids say they enjoy going to community events that involve reading.
Teacher Appreciation
School-aged kids and their parents say educators are central to their reading journeys. Scholastic CEO, Peter Warwick, highlights teacher-focused data in
a note of appreciation to educators. Read the letter here.
Teachers: discover simple ways you can continue to inspire kids to become readers here.
Teacher encouragement matters to kids
70% of children list their teacher/ school librarian as someone who encourages them to read for fun.
Parents rely on teachers
42% of parents of school-age children turn to teachers/school librarians for help in choosing books for their child.
Teacher curation of books and accessibility matter
41% of children told us they get most of their books from school.