Break out the children’s books, people, because today—March 2, the birthday of the beloved Dr. Seuss—is the day for the National Education Association’s Read Across America.  Never heard of it before?  Me either.  Apparently, as a reader, a writer, and a parent, I’ve had my head in the sand because this celebration has been going on since 1998.  Where in the heck have I been?  Oh, sorry, I’ve been kind of busy.  I’ve been reading to my kids.

Okay, okay, maybe that was uncalled for. (I do know that March is Reading Month.  Does that count for something? Anything?  Come on, I haven’t been totally clueless.)

Here’s the idea behind Read Across America:  The NEA would like “every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult” on this day. 

Pro:  Reading with a child is a great idea.  Fantastic.  Totally support it.  Kudos NEA!

Con:  One day?  Seriously?  One day isn’t going to motivate the kids to love reading.  Sorry guys, it just isn’t.

Perhaps I’ve been watching a little too much Idol.  It feels like I’m channeling Simon with my bad attitude.  And, please, please, please understand that I fully support reading to kids.  I understand that the idea here is to generate some excitement.  It’s like a pep rally for reading.  I get that.

But does it really work that way?  When you have a pep rally for football, you don’t have to know a single thing about the game.  I am fairly certain that I made it all the way through high school and college, attending plenty of pep rallies and football games, without ever knowing, exactly, what it is that a Tight End does.  In fact, I’m quite sure I was much more concerned with the tight end on our high school quarterback than I was with anything else in the game.  Enough said.

But to get excited about reading takes time.  It’s not the same thing at all.  Learning to read comes slowly for most kids, over time, after seeing lots and lots of letters strung together on a page, again and again and again.  It can be hard work.  But when we read to them, regularly, those words take our kids places.  They take them on adventures, they help them solve mysteries, they make them laugh.  It’s not the reading itself that’s exciting, it’s the story.  Reading is simply the means to the end.  And, given enough time and practice, our kids will pore over the pages and put the words together.  They’ll take themselves to these enchanted places.

So go ahead and Read Across America.  It’s a good start, and, like many programs, it’s well intentioned.  But if you really want to help those other kids—the ones who aren’t being read to on a regular basis—you’ve got to up the ante.  Would you consider volunteering at their schools?  They could use you.  Really use you.  Last year, I spent one Tuesday every month in a 2^nd grade classroom at a school my children will never attend.  I worked with one child at a time, listening, encouraging, and reading.  At my own children’s school, parents line up to help.  If you want to volunteer, they’re glad to have you, but you’ll have to take your turn.  At this other school, only 15 miles west of ours, it’s an entirely different world.  They could use us every day, not just on March 2nd.  

photo credits: mikefats and zawezome