March is National Reading Month, and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is using the moment to remind families that early reading doesn’t have to be complicated — it just has to be consistent.
In an interview with Radio Catskill, Dr. Erin Bailey, Vice President of Literacy Programs and Research at RIF, said reading aloud can start “as early as birth,” and even during pregnancy.
“There’s research that shows that reading to your child in utero gets them used to the tone of your voice,” Bailey said. “It has exposure to language, and it builds that foundation for literacy — because reading is written down spoken words.”
Bailey said a lack of books at home can put children at a disadvantage before they ever walk into a classroom. Without early exposure, kids may begin school with less vocabulary, weaker background knowledge, and fewer “concepts about print” — like understanding that books move front to back and words track left to right.
For parents who don’t feel confident in their own reading skills, Bailey emphasized that perfection isn’t the goal.
“Start by creating a routine,” Bailey said, pointing to everyday moments families already have — bedtime, snack time, even a few minutes while waiting for practice to start. And for very young children, simply turning pages and talking about the pictures still counts as reading, because it builds storytelling and language.
In the digital age, Bailey said print books still matter, but eBooks can work too — if families treat them like a book experience, not a scrolling experience. Another key piece: narrating what you’re doing when you’re reading on a device.
“You want to be a strong reading mentor,” Bailey said. “Pointing out what you’re doing… builds up a child’s reading identity.”
This National Reading Month, RIF is partnering with Stauffer’s Simply Animals to promote reading through daily routines and help expand access to books. The partnership includes a new children’s title, Bryson’s Rocket Riddles, geared toward kindergarten through second grade, with flexibility for younger readers as well. Bailey said 20 percent of proceeds from book purchases will support RIF’s work providing books to children who otherwise wouldn’t have them at home.
RIF says it has reached more than 237 million children and distributed more than 430 million free books across all 50 states and U.S. territories.
To learn more about RIF, visit rif.org. For information on Bryson’s Rocket Riddles, visit simplyanimals.com.
Photo by Wavebreakmedia from Getty Images