CADILLAC — March is National Reading Month, and just because it is ending, it doesn’t mean you have to stop reading.
In fact, students may actually have to be reading more.
Data released by the state shows students improved in 5, 7, and 8 grade , but remained the same in 6 grade and decreased in 3, 4, and 11 grade.
Michigan state officials believe that for some children, particularly those who were learning to read when COVID-19 hit and who were remote for the first full school year of the pandemic, were hit the hardest.
“We’re still not at pre-COVID numbers, but probably we’ve first started to see a big upswing three years ago, ”
Despite the low scores, the library has actually seen an increase in people coming in, but not to read novels.
“There are always trends in what people are reading. Definitely illustrated work like that. Are is more popular than ever with all age groups. So we invest more in that because we’re really invested in giving people what they want and they’re excited about. "
So with children still reading, but with lower scores, how can a guardian help?
“The number one predictor of reading success is a love of reading. And parents can encourage that by keeping books in their homes, by reading themselves and talking to kids about how much they enjoy reading, by sharing books with their kids, by reading to them out loud, and by reading books with their kids and talking to them about what they read.”
The Cadillac Public Library is also putting on a slew of events meant to help encourage your child to read, starting all the way at being a newborn.
“Most of our programing is built especially for our kids. It’s built around the idea of encouraging literacy and the love of reading. So, at every level for kids, we’re doing something for babies. We provide a program called A Thousand Books Before Kindergarten where parents can earn prizes for reading to their children. We do a summer reading program to prevent the summer slide.”
If you or your child is interested in any of the programs that this library is putting on, you can visit their website at https://www.cadillaclibrary.org/.