The first Wednesday of every February is observed as World Read Aloud Day. It’s a holiday dedicated to reading and the practice of reading aloud. Reading aloud is one of the easiest ways for parents to stimulate their child’s imagination and expand their knowledge of the world.

It’s also a way for them to develop the language and listening skills they need to be able to read on their own. Study after study has shown that reading to children also improves cognitive skills and development. It’s the best way for parents to bond with their children, and for all these reasons, we encourage people to observe this holiday.

The History of World Read Aloud Day

This holiday was first created in 2009 by the nonprofit LitWorld, with the support of Scholastic. Since its creation, this holiday has been observed annually in over 173 countries and has helped parents bond with their children over books. It has also allowed teachers, storytellers, and people who work with children every day to help those children on their path to better reading.

Some Quick Facts About Reading

Below are some quick facts about reading that we feel everyone learning about this holiday is going to find quite interesting. We gathered the following tidbits of information from the World Wide Web and would like to now share them aloud with everyone reading this article today.

• Studies show that reading for 6 minutes a day can reduce stress by almost 70%.
• Children who have at least 20 books in their home library will achieve 3 years more schooling than children who don’t have a home library.
• If a person reads just 20 minutes a day, they will end up reading 1.8 million words by the end of the year.
• The fastest way for a child to learn vocabulary is through reading.
• If a parent reads just one book a day to their child, then they will have read over 1,800 books to their child by their 5th birthday.

Observing World Read Aloud Day

Since this holiday is all about reading, we think people should make sure that they have a nice stack of books to read to children. This is a day for parents, educators, and everyone else to ensure they read to the children in their lives.

Reading is fundamental to a child’s educational success, so let’s all work together to give them the solid foundation they need. Another great way for people to share their love of books, and this holiday, is by using the hashtag #WorldReadAloudDay on social media.