This post is part of an ongoing partnership with Ooka Island early reading program. All opinions are 100% my own. And my husband’s. He helped me out with this post.
Before you go any further, make sure you read about Ooka Island in my first post. I can wait.
Did you read it? Ok good 
Cause Josh didn’t and that was his downfall.
You see, tonight I tried to tell him about how Lucy isn’t playing Ooka Island enough. He made the asinine comment that, “early reading doesn’t really matter in the end. They all learn it at school anyways.”
Here’s the thing, it isn’t just that I want her to be reading before anyone else. Early reading actually has a huge documented impact on a child’s educational success and therefore financial success.
How about some proof:
Quality early education can increase a child’s potential earnings as an adult by up to 60 percent. – Source.
If children are not proficient readers by third grade, they struggle to catch up for years to come – and often never do. – Source.
Children who lack a strong foundation of language awareness and literacy skills early in life are more likely to fall behind in school, and are more likely to drop out. – Source.
Basically, it’s this: if a child struggles with reading skills, it can impact all areas of school. All of them. Reading is essential. And not being able to read at the same level as their peers can be socially embarrassing and therefore make it even more difficult to catch up. (Have you ever lost confidence in yourself because you just felt like you’d never get it? Kids go through this all the time)
Reading isn’t only essential, but early reading is critical to educational success.
And what better way to learn to read than to do something fun, something that gives them confidence and they thoroughly enjoy doing? Something they will ask to do?
Welcome to Ooka Island!
Lucy begs me to play it. I need to download it onto Josh’s Android phone (yes, it is finally available for droids too!). Sometimes I get home too late for her to play it on my phone.
She is 5 and in preschool. She has mastered the alphabet and their sounds. Now she is working on putting sounds together to make words.
I know all this because whenever Lucy plays, Ooka sends me a progress report with the early reading skills she is excelling at and ones I can work with her more on. They even send me resources for additional help in specific reading areas.
Ooka Island costs $89.99 for a year and worth every single penny. It’s like having a private tutor who monitors Lucy, teaches her, and reports back to me with fantastic educational resources and ideas.
Oh and the Tutor is an app on my phone – Lucy adores it and I don’t have to drive her anywhere. You can also get a free trial and let your child play through the first level to see for yourself how fun and amazing it is.
Go Tour The Island
Check out Ooka’s Website and see for yourself. Then let me know what you think!
I can’t wait to read Lucy’s next progress report. Soon she will be reading as well as her brother! I am so excited for her!
And Josh? This is essential, so I hope you are reading this and will read my next post about how Lucy is doing on the program. You are going to be so incredibly proud of how strong of a reader our daughter becomes!
The post The Importance of Early Reading – It Really Does Matter appeared first on Mama Dweeb.