The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— Dr. Seuss
“There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.” – Jacqueline Kennedy
In today’s digital world, children and teenagers are glued to gadgets more and more limiting them to connect socially. Experts who have been tracking the impact of technology on our children observed that our children's communication skills have decreased for the past few years. Communication is now slowly decreasing to a point where children and teenagers have trouble initiating face to face conversation. These children are also developing an inability to read social cues and have empathy.
It’s true that technology allowed us to connect virtually but somehow decreased our ability to communicate and interact socially.
Studies show that children from 5-16 years old spend 6 hours a day in average in front of the screen and experts say this is altering our children's behavior such as:
Experts predict that social isolation is going to be the biggest public health problem in the next years and the solution they are proposing is to connect more with our children.
Like many parents, we are at loss what to do. We have been asking ourselves.... how do we make our digitally connected kids to connect more socially? Should we take away gadgets completely? How much screen time is too much?
It’s important to note that this modern problem is not just affecting children. Adults are having a hard time disconnecting from smart devices as well. Adults on average are now spending a staggering 9 hours 22 minutes a day looking at a screen, a third of which is spent on our phones.
We have to accept that technology is a part of our daily life. But how do we find the balance between technology and social interaction? We have been doing a lot of research and our research led us to reading.
The importance of reading cannot be emphasized enough. Reading does not only enhance a child’s vocabulary but it also helps them to understand different topics about the world and every day life. I believe you heard these quotes:
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales. – Einstein
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. —Dr. Seuss
Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while. —Malorie Blackman
As we dig further into our research of the importance of reading, we came across a lot of studies with deeper impact on early reading - poverty and juvenile delinquency or youth crimes.
An important trend currently observed is the rise of youth crimes or juvenile delinquencies. Study after study shows that poor reading skill is a predictor of, among other things, involvement in the juvenile justice system.
Struggling readers develop poor self esteem and a negative relation to school. A study shows that:
2/3 children who cannot read proficiently by grade 4 will likely end up in jail or welfare.
70% of inmates cannot read beyond grade 4 level
Inspired by our 3 boys, we came up with a program to encourage parents and the community to come together to inspire our children to have deep love for reading and to encourage them to interact more socially and to inspire them to read/lead others.
Our concept is simple..
a/ Starting at HOME. We encourage parents/guardian to read aloud to their kids 10-20 minutes everyday. What better way to launch this program than to start it at home. While a lot of parents agree that reading aloud to kids promotes emotional bond between parents and children, a study shows that only 3 out of 10 parents are reading aloud to kids.
b/ Community Interaction - We invite kids to join a group with Levra facilitator to meet once a week at the library for 30 mins to an hour to read aloud together and share ideas.
Due to Covid-19, we are hosting our sessions online.
c/ Self Reading -We encourage kids to read a book of their choice atleast 20 minutes a day. This is where the magic happens... we let them enjoy books on their own.
d/ Youth Mentorship - We inspire teenagers to be involved, reading aloud to smaller children or perhaps leading a team. As what Margaret Fuller said “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”Our goal is to inspire children who have developed their love for reading pass it on to younger children. We inspire teenagers and young adults to be involved with LEVRA trained parents coaching/guiding them to become effective leaders.
How do we know the idea is working? The key here is patience and consistency. To track progress and to keep the kids excited about their milestones, all the activities are going to be recorded on their LEVRA passports.
Each member will be given a passport when they sign up. They are encouraged to record their activities and each milestones will unlock rewards as they progress.
Levra can be easily associated to Libro which means books in Spanish and Italian. It can also be associated to Library. But it has far deeper meaning,
“LEV” stands for (Living life of Endless possibilities and victories)” through
“R” (Reading, Repetition, Rewards) and once the love for reading grows
“A” will follow (It will be evident in your Actions, you will become to Aspire more and Achieve greater things).
There are three ways to get involved.
Become a member
Donate
Volunteer
Sponsoring a project
We will be posting more information once Levra’s website is up and running. Levra Foundation is still in it’s infancy. We believe in our mission and our hope is that many will support the cause.
Our fast faced world is constantly changing and is significantly affecting our children. As we trod on this unknown path, one thing is certain.... we need to connect to each other to help shape our children's future.
“Let’s help children unlock a world full of possibilities through Reading”.
Thank you
Yours,
Honey and Cris Cardenas
Levra Foundation Founders
