MSU Extension Child & Family Development

Developing Early Literacy Skills Goes Beyond the ABCs!

Did you know? 

Reading proficiently by the end of the third grade can be a “make or break benchmark” in a child’s educational development?
Eighty-three percent of children who are not reading by the fourth grade are at risk of failing to graduate from high school on time.
Michigan ranks 43 out of the 50 state in meeting national reading standards by the fourth grade.
Preschoolers, whose parents read to them, tell them stories or sing songs with them, tend to develop larger vocabularies, become better readers and perform better in school.