Program shows children reading is fun

Published 6:00 am Monday, April 9, 2018

Recently, the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, Bell County Office partnered with local Family Resource Director Jamie Mills, Lone Jack Librarian Melanie Mills and Bell Whitley to offer a reading program to their families that encouraged them to take time out of their day and read to the children in their lives.

With family lifestyles getting busier and children spending more time watching television and playing video games, parents find it difficult to have meaningful relationships with their children. Rebecca Miller, FCS agent states “that studies show children who are read to at least 20 minutes a day are more likely to do better in school and not have as many discipline problems.” By reading to your children, families become more involved and interested in what is going on in their child’s life.

The FRED Program (Families Reading EveryDay) shows children that reading is fun and is something they can do together. The program lasted for four weeks and families kept a log of what was read and how long they read.

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The 14 families that completed this program read a total of 10,147 minutes as a whole (169 hours). The child’s family reading the most minutes had a total of 1,832 minutes (30 hours), and that was Colt Wilson from Pineville Elementary. Also, Alivia Reed was the winner at Lone Jack School, reading a total of 1,023 minutes (17 hours).