This document discusses the importance and benefits of investing in reading, especially from an early age. It notes that reading proficiency by third grade strongly correlates with higher educational achievement and life outcomes. Investing in early childhood reading reduces achievement gaps, lowers crime rates, and increases social mobility. The workshop aims to examine how rewarding free voluntary reading is, and the educational, social, financial, and developmental benefits of early reading investment. It emphasizes the critical role of parents as initiators of reading from a young age.

1. Investing in Reading is Investing in the Future
Samia Wardane
High School teacher
Okba High School, Casablanca
Abstract
This workshop is a collaborative reflection on reading and its benefits. According to research, investing in
reading especially fostering early immersion results in high achievement rates. Young learners’ acquisition of
reading as a must-have life skill guarantees self actualization in an age characterized by rapidity,
competitiveness, versatility, and abundance. The power of reading at the educational, social, economic, and
political levels is no magic. Reading is a skill that directly affects success at school and grades. Investing in
reading from early childhood increases the likeliness of having a scientific diploma, reduces getting into prison,
leads to less drug consumption, and augments an individual’s chances to have a better salary. The degradation
of reading entails a low productivity in educational outcomes revealing of an absence of parental efforts to
initiate and keep love for reading aflame. By this the burden of higher expenses is inevitable. Thus, investing in
reading is investing in the future.
Workshop Objectives
1. To study the importance of reading in individuals’ lives
2. To examine the benefits of free voluntary reading and how rewarding it is
3. To discuss the importance of parents’ involvement as first initiators of an early immersion in reading
4. To reflect on the benefits of reading at the educational, social, and developmental levels
Workshop Outline
This workshop is divided into four activities
Activity one: Let’s discuss the quotes!
Activity two: discuss the1 benefits of Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) and 2 why cultivating FVR is rewarding
1. Why FVR is important?
• Reading because you want to read
• Reading what YOU want to read
• No Book Reports
• You can read magazines, comic books, children’s books, anything you want.
2. Why use FVR?
In 51 out of 54 comparative studies, students who practiced in FVR had higher reading scores than students
who learned how to read English in the usual (traditional) method. It is important because students do not
know how to learn for purposes of personal growth, Students never act independently, Students have little

2. experience learning outside of class, students do not see learning as something that gives them power,
students do not know how to study for purposes other than a test.
Activity three: Investing in Early Reading is important at the educational, social financial, or
developmental.
Potential answers will be initiated from these excerpts and other tables of statistics:
• “Students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave high school
without a diploma than proficient readers, according to a study over time of nearly 4,000 students
nationally.” (Educational outcome)
(Hernandez, D. Double Jeopardy: How Poverty & Third-Grade Reading Skills Influence High School
Graduation, 2011, Annie E. Casey Foundation)
• “Investment in early education for disadvantaged children from birth to age 5 helps reduce the
achievement gap, reduce the need for special education, increase the likelihood of healthier lifestyles,
lower the crime rate, and reduce overall social costs. In fact, every dollar invested in high-quality early
childhood education produces a 7 to 10 percent per annum return on investment.” (social and financial
outcomes)
(Heckman, James. The Economics of Inequality, The Value of Early Childhood Education, American Educator,
Spring 2011)
• “From conception to kindergarten, the rate of brain development is the fastest of any other period in a
person’s life and highly influenced by the quality of early experiences and relationships with their
parents. Yet the public investments are at their lowest point in the infant and toddler years – when brain
growth is the most rapid.” (developmental outcomes)
(J.S. Shonkoff & D. Phillips, Eds., From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood
Development (2000), Washington D.C.; National Research Council & The Institute of Medicine, National
Academy Press.)
Activity Four: The critical role of parents
“What happens during the first months and years of life matters, a lot, not because this period of development
provides an indelible blueprint for adult well-being, but because it sets either a sturdy or fragile stage for what
follows.”
(J.S. Shonkoff & D. Phillips, Eds., From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development ,2000, Washington
D.C.; National Research Council & The Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press.)
“The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in early school years is evident
regardless of the family’s socio-economic background.”
(Programme for International Student Assessment In Focus, What can parents do to help their children succeed in school?, 2011)

3. References
_______.Reach Out and Read at www.reachoutanderad.org
__________. Reading Takes You Places: A Study of a Web-based Summer Reading Program retrieved from
http://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/youthsvcs/srp.certificates/AASL.Reading.Takes.You.Places.pdf
Gordon, C. Lu, Y. “I Hate to Read—Or Do I?” Low Achievers and Their Reading. Retrieved January
16, 2016 at
http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol11/SLMR_HatetoRead_V11.
pdf
Henderson, A. T., Mapp, K. L., Averett, A., National Center for Family & Community Connections
with Schools (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory), & Institute of Education Sciences (U.S.).
(2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student
achievement. Austin, Tex: National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools.
Lochener, L. Moretti, E. The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and
Self-Reports∗. Retrieved January 16, 2016 at http://eml.berkeley.edu/~moretti/lm46.pdf