Get off the computer and read!

When you’re finished reading this, do yourself a favor: shut off your computer, pick up a book, put on your bifocals and read.

There’s no better time. It’s National Reading Month, when schools, libraries and families nationwide are reading more and encouraging others to join in.

The Salvation Army is right on board.

Our Child Development Center (CDC) in St. Paul recently teamed with Learning Disabilities of Minnesota (LDA) to increase the exposure of children to books and reading before they enter kindergarten.

The CDC provides childcare to children of low-income families. Each week LDA supplies their families with a book bag filled with a variety of story books, plus multi-cultural and multi-lingual vocabulary materials. Over the next few months, children will take home a different book bag about 40 times.

“The single most important factor to early education success in children is being read to at home prior to beginning school,” said Brenda Line, CDC Coordinator.

The National Institute for Literacy agrees. Their website says kindergarten children read to by family members at least three times a week are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in reading, compared to children read to less than three times a week.

The partnership between the LDA and CDC is important for people like Krissy, a St. Paul resident and single mother who is taking college courses while working full time. Her daughter attends the St. Paul Citadel Salvation Army after school. Through quality reading programs and affordable care, The Salvation Army is helping give Krissy and her daughter a better chance in life.

“I don’t know where we would be without this place,” Krissy said.