photo by Todd Stailey / Tennessee Aquarium
First Lady Crissy Haslam hosted a Read20 Family Book Club event Tuesday at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Ms. Haslam read the January Book of the Month, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, to approximately 20 Normal Park Museum Magnet School third graders. The group met in the Penguin Gallery and discussed the value of reading 20 minutes each day.
“We are very grateful to the Tennessee Aquarium for helping us to provide an interactive learning experience for the students,” said Ms. Haslam. “Children can be more engaged in reading when books are related to real-life experiences, and we have had a special opportunity to do that today.”
As First Lady of Tennessee, Ms. Haslam has been promoting the value of reading at least 20 minutes each day by encouraging participation in her Read20 Family Book Club. Research shows that 20 minutes of reading each day can increase a child’s school performance considerably. The book club gives Tennessee families a fun goal of reading together every day by featuring a new book and corresponding family friendly activities each month.
Tuesday’s event at the Tennessee Aquarium is the first Read20 Family Book Club event to take place in 2013. Knowing that literacy is vital to success in school and in life, Ms. Haslam is asking families to recommit themselves to reading at least 20 minutes each day this year.
“Children experience many periphery benefits from family reading time. Reading can help improve behavior, vocabulary, attention span and spelling,” said Ms. Haslam. “Most importantly, reading improves relationships by providing families quiet, uninterrupted time to engage in an activity together.”
For more information about the Read20 Family Book Club, visit www.tn.gov/read20, www.facebook.com/CrissyHaslam, follow @Read20TN on Twitter, or go to your local public library.