Maintaining an organized home has many benefits for you and your children: less stress over misplaced items, less rushing in the mornings to locate clean socks and math notebooks, and family dinners around a cleared-off dining table.
But there are even more benefits to living in an orderly home environment: a strong correlation exists between household cleanliness and organization AND early reading ability.
Did you get that?! The way you maintain your home affects your school-aged child's reading ability. In a study by the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College in New York City, household order proved to be MORE IMPORTANT to fostering a child's reading ability than how frequently a child was read to.*
Surprise! Taking out the trash, keeping your kitchen counters clean, organizing the pantry, folding bath towels, and hanging up clothing are more important to your child's literacy than sitting down and reading to them. That's not to say you should stop reading aloud to your children--sharing stories and time together is very important--but isn't it amazing that the way you keep your home affects their reading skills more than books do?
Why not include your children in organizing and cleaning your home, and read a book together afterward? You'll get the best of both worlds.
*"Order Helps Readers," WORKING MOTHER Magazine, November 2009: Pg. 68
