During a recent conversation with one of my son’s teachers I was asked a question that made me stop and think – the question was, “Do you have many books in your house?” My answer was an immediate -yes, many (and I do mean many) of them. Our family room has an entire wall of bookcases packed to overflowing, mostly fiction but I do have several bookcases stuffed with reference materials and non-fiction books as well.
The teacher answered, “I thought so, it shows in your son’s vocabulary and creative writing.” That’s what started me thinking. Why is it important that I have books and what does that have to do with my son’s literacy and personal growth?
Having books around is just natural for me – I have an extensive digital library but there’s just something about having a wall of physical books that I can browse through and refer to. I was brought up surrounded by books and I can’t imagine a room without at least a few.
So I did some research, and what I found was not really surprising but interesting. One of the best articles I found was from Smithsonian, which actually included one of the few truly surprising pieces of information I found in the results from studies they’ve done. According to the article/study (which can be found here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/growing-surrounded-books-may-bolster-skills-later-life-180970523/ )
So, what are the implications of the new study? Take, for instance, adults who grew up with hardly any books in the home, but went on to obtain a university degree in comparison to an adult who grew up with a large home library, but only had nine years of schooling. The study found that both of their literacy levels were roughly average. “So, literacy-wise, bookish adolescence makes up for a good deal of educational advantage,” the study authors write.
Basically, having books in the home can balance out literacy levels between someone with a degree and someone who only completed nine years of school. I found that … incredible.
How many books do you have at your house? I’m curious to know what you think of the study – were you surprised?