D87 educators encourage student-scholars to read at least thirty minutes outside of school each day. All families can help support the habit of reading. When young people see adults reading a book or magazine, they are more likely to follow their example. A two-decade long study found that the mere presence of books in a home, as in bookshelves or in a home library, increases children's academic success, vocabulary development, attention, and job attainment.
Reading develops critical thinking and imagination. Reading improves vocabulary, oral communication, and writing. Reading builds language skills, teaches about the world, and develops empathy and emotional awareness.
Research shows the more we read, the more we learn, not just as children, but as a lifelong habit. Adults can read to children and children can read to adults. Reading together provides an opportunity for parents and children to spend time together and connect.
The district’s five-year Strategic Plan also focuses on the importance of reading in student achievement, and district educators work every day to improve students’ performance and close achievement gaps that were exacerbated by the pandemic.