Are you an avid reader? If you are like me, one of your favorite activities on a quiet day is sitting down with a good book; or as I should say nowadays, sitting down with my iPad and iBooks store! So, it should be no surprise that I was thrilled to learn that May is “Get Caught Reading Month,” a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read! Get Caught Reading began in 1999 to encourage people of all ages to read – and that reading can be fun!

Unfortunately, 44 million adults in the US can’t read well enough to read a simple story to a child. And literacy is directly tied to success later in life: children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 to 4 times more likely to drop out in later years.

I started reading to Ryan when he was only two days old. As he grew from an infant to a toddler, he too had his favorite books that we read so frequently the pages were scotch-taped together!

Here at the Elizabeth Lee Black School, we celebrated National Read-a-Thon day by having our early childhood students join together in the library to read The Doorbell Rang. One of our teachers read, while another signed the story. It was certainly a fun time for all! If you are interested in participating in Get Caught Reading month, here are just a few ideas:

• Dedicate a half hour each day to reading and call it “Get Caught Reading Time.”
• Set up a Get Caught Reading event in your community, and invite local radio and television personalities and other community figures to read aloud to children.
• Set up a club where children and adults read the same book and compare their feelings on it

If you have other creative ways to get involved, I’d love to hear your ideas!