R.A.F.T. Means Read Aloud Family Time

January 21, 2011

Every year when the Reading Aloud Family Time Program comes around, I am reminded of the impact spending time reading with your kids can make. 

My daughter was a very reluctant second grade reader.  Her reading skills needed a lot of improvement. No matter how many books I bought or how many books we checked out at the library for her to read, she just wasn’t interested. 

Then, I broke my leg the summer before she was to enter third grade. I spent four months incapacitated, and we resorted to reading aloud to pass the time. We found the Dear America series, and my daughter was enthralled. She would not stop until we had read every book in the series. That summer opened a whole new world to my daughter. It not only strengthened our bond, but it showed her at an early age that there was so much more to be discovered in books.

My daughter graduated from high school with honors. She developed a love for literature and an interest in history and art. This led her to study abroad in Great Britain, connecting so many literary references and to explore Spain and Italy; experiencing as much history and art as she could. She is now in Iowa about to complete her education degree with emphasis in English. We still discuss and share books, and hardly a day goes by that I do not hear from her. She is excited and looking forward to enlightening many children’s lives in their quest for knowledge.

So, I heartily recommend that anyone who has young children, grandchildren, distant cousins, or any contact with young people, please take the time to read aloud. You never know what a difference it can make.

The R.A.F.T. program at Mid-Continent Public Library began January 18th and ends March 31st. Every family who reads 3 chapter books together earn a free hardback version of the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, receive a certificate, and get a chance to win a DVD copy of Disney’s “The Jungle Book” .

Now is a great time to make a difference in a child’s life, and just maybe, you can create a life-long bond, too.

Tandie V.
Lee’s Summit