I read the headline to this article, "Messy House, Messy Mind: The connections between kids, reading and an orderly home," immediately closed my laptop and set out to clean the house. I sifted through the books and stacks of paper on my desk, cleared out the piles of artwork waiting to be hung or tossed, found a home for every tiny Littlest Pet Shop animal and accessory that dot our household landscape and swept an arm over the coffee table to rid our home -- finally -- of months-old magazines and outdated catalogs.
I didn't want our messy house to get in the way of my almost four-year-old's march toward literacy. Especially since our home's messiness traces back directly to me.
Only when everything appeared ordered did I go back and actually read the damn article.
That's when I realized I had wasted my time."Orderly" refers to stuff like schedules, actually having one -- and sticking to it. Our schedule is our religion. No barriers to literacy around here.
The study showed that household order related to literacy only in
middle-class homes with mothers who have above-average reading skills.
Children of mothers with average reading skills appeared to benefit
more from simply being surrounded by books and allowed to amuse
themselves with them.
Still, what does a regular bedtime and rarely forgotten appointments have to do with why Johnny can read?
The researchers weren't sure, but here's what Emily Bazelon writes about how it might be related:
It may be that "household order taps a more fundamental characteristic
of parents or households, such as maternal industriousness, planning
ability, or conscientiousness, that gives rise to both orderliness and
better reading skills in children." This is the idea of executive
functioning, which captures "planning and problem-solving abilities."
The findings are preliminary so don't give up nightly read-alouds just to update the calendar and get everything set up for the morning. There's plenty of research that shows reading to your child regularly is the best way to raise good readers. One aspect the researcher didn't explore but might be relevant is warmth and responsiveness -- asking your kids questions and encouraging their curiosity.
Well, that's all fine and good as long as lights are out by 8!
Photo: Slate
