Do You Read Bedtime Stories to Your Kids, Troy?

The response to a query on the Troy Patch Facebook page about whether parents read to their kids on a nightly basis was a resounding yes.

Donna J McMullen: I do. I hope she will enjoy reading as much as I do someday. Plus, one day she won't let me in her bedroom so I need to enjoy my time with her now!

Becky Minsker Lorenz: Yes every night my husband and I each read to one of our girls and then the next night we read to the opposite one. Love this one on one time.

Janie Ruscoe-Kirchler: Not just this week, every night since he's been born. He's 7-1/2 & reads to me now : )

Mary Beth Costigan: We did every night, after bath time ...I loved it too 

The nationwide survey of more than 1,000 parents with children age 8 or younger conducted in April by Harris Interactive for RIF and Macy's also found the following.

• Eighty-seven percent of parents read bedtime stories to their children, although not necessarily on a nightly basis.
• Fifty percent of parents say their children spend more time with television or video games than with books.
• Twice as many children prefer a printed book (20 percent) over an e-book (9 percent), say parents who read both types of books to their children.
• Children who don't read well by the end of the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers, according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Click here for more information about the Be Book Smart campaign.