Sloan: Ms. Jones says 10 minutes matters

A friend, “Ms. Jones,” who teaches first grade in a lower socio-economic school in a medium-sized city, says parents who read to children 10 minutes a night make a difference in their success.

Reading also creates a closeness with their children, while making them value reading.

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Jones says, “The kids who are read to at least a few minutes at night, even if it’s from the same book, not only learn how to spell words, but the ideas that words represent.”

Jones says it is sad to hear some students say they can’t read, and ask her to read to them. But, with 22 students, she can’t read to each individually.

“I am with them less than eight hours a day. I wish parents could find at least 10 minutes to read to them during the other 16 hours,” Jones says.

“Unfortunately, some parents think of us as more a day care than a learning center. They drop off their kids so we can feed and babysit them. They even ask us not to call them at work about their kids.”

Some of her students deal with near-homelessness — including two families who temporarily lived in vehicles before moving into projects.

For many, school is a refuge from home life. When Jones arrives at school as early as 6:30 a.m., there will be kids already dropped off by parents — on their way to work — waiting by themselves in the cold. School rules prevent them from being let inside the building until 7:15 a.m., when breakfast is served.

“It breaks my heart that I can’t let them inside,” Jones says. “It’s tough for them and their parents who have nowhere else to leave them.”

Jones feels for parents who have to drop off their kids early, but says, “They can at least make it up to them by giving them the advantage of reading to them 10 minutes at night.”

Contact Wendel Sloan at:

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