Let me invite you to pause and take stock for a moment: What are your reading habits?

Are you reading the Bible consistently? Do you read books for pleasure? Do books have a strong presence in your family culture? Are you reading aloud to your children each day?

This week I read an alarming article called “Americans spend less time reading for fun and more time on screens: Study.” The study showed that reading for pleasure in the U.S. fell an astounding 40% over the last two decades.

Even more jolting was the finding that only 2% of adults on average reported that they read to a child every day.

“The researchers speculated that the drop is likely tied to the rise of digital media, including social platforms, streaming and online browsing.” That’s the elephant in the room, no doubt. “There’s a correlation between time spent on digital media and reductions in reading time,” the researchers said. “It does seem logical that the ways in which digital media compete for our time would be a factor in these declines in reading.” They are saying what we all know intuitively.

I’m not here to preach to you about whether you should be on the internet or reading a book. However, I am here to urge you to make reading to your children a high priority.

One of our goals as a school is to cultivate young men and women who prioritize a mind for God, growing into deep readers and thinkers who are equipped to reason truthfully and discuss graciously. And here is what I’ve observed over 25 years in classical Christian schools: it’s almost impossible for this to happen unless parents are committed to reading, who from a young age engage their children in good books.

This means parents must take seriously reading aloud daily. Here is a collection of encouragements that might help.

• Set a time daily when you read aloud to your children, and then stick to it. Things fall off the edge with busy schedules, but most of the time you are in control of what falls off. Guard read-aloud time. Begin with just 10 minutes a day.
• Reading to young children is easy because reading also doubles as snuggle and lap time. And young children love having your full attention, which reading aloud affords.
• Bring a book with you so that you can fill time in the car or while waiting at the doctor’s office or ball field.
• Find a book that dad can read to the whole family. Whether it’s Tolkien or Lewis or a favorite from your childhood, choose a book that appeals to a wide audience and make reading aloud a family affair. Children need to hear dad, not just mom, read aloud.
• Read to your preteens and teenagers. That may sound like a hard sell, but some of my best memories were books my wife and I read with our children when they were beyond the little years. Once you get started with a good book, you’ll find your children asking to hear it read – what happens next?
• At the dinner table or before bedtime, read the Bible, or a Bible story book, aloud to your children.
• Read a book for pleasure yourself and then talk about what you’re reading with your children.
• Choose one book that your children are reading in literature class this year and read that book. Then engage your child while he or she is reading it for class.
• Don’t know which books to choose to read aloud? Ask your child’s teacher to recommend books. I guarantee they will have good ideas for you.

I urge you, Providence parents, make reading aloud to your children a high priority. It’s essential to Christian parenting, and it’s indispensable for the classical Christian paideia.