Remember those cozy evenings as a child when your mother or grandma invited you up in the lap of her rocking chair and tucked you under a soft quilt that she had made with her own hands from old hand-me-downs. She would let you pick a favorite book or two and you would spend the evening reading, giggling, and creating memories, all the while you were inhaling undetected skills that you did not perceive to be a part of the experience. “It’s never too early to start reading to your kids,” shares UT Institute of Agriculture Assistant Dean and Professor, Dr. Matt Devereaux.

Reading is a critical stage of development to children that can put the youths at risk for falling behind in school and life if not taken seriously. Many challenges and difficulties in adolescence are a result of a literacy issue that could have been addressed at a very young age with simple reading tactics. The first five years in a child’s life is very important as that is the peak of development and things change considerably after that.

Based on the Tennessee child well-being report published in October 2019, 24.3% of children in Union County are proficient in third to eighth grade reading level. The county is ranked 86 out of the 95 counties in TN. Considering that 85 counties in the state rank higher in literacy rates, there is plenty of room for improvement. Begin your focus on literacy in Union County during Tennessee’s Ag Literacy week in November.

In efforts to promote literacy as well as agriculture, Tennessee Agriculture Literacy week is planned for November 17- 24, 2019, with a belief that the future success of agriculture depends on developing an Ag literate society with individuals who understand and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects quality of life. The week focuses on connecting volunteers with youth groups and organizations within communities and giving them the opportunity to widen their knowledge of agriculture thru literacy, sharing fun books, stories, and connections to agriculture within their classrooms.

Local 4-H and FFA programs have partnered to promote Ag literacy specifically in the Union County school system. FFA students have been visiting elementary school classrooms on a regular basis and sharing an agricultural book with the students. Earlier this fall they were even able to donate several books to a classroom library at Big Ridge Elementary School during the collaborated event with Union County Farm Bureau’s Annual Farm Day and Ag in the Classroom Activities. One 4-H and FFA member is working on some funding to further the Ag literacy cause. If funding is approved, she plans to continue reading in the school classrooms but shift the focus from younger grades up to maybe middle school aged children, as well as plan some interactive activities geared towards the same focus.

For focus on those younger children, during Ag Lit Week, Luttrell Library will be hosting a Babies and Bubbles event on Tuesday, November 19th at 10:30am, for ages up to pre-school and siblings are welcome. This would be a fun way to get the family out to the library and familiar with the setting. Also, on the 19th, Union County 4-Hers in the 4-H Stitchers Project Group will be making bookmarks to donate locally as an effort to promote literacy within the community.

Literacy is free and a very important part of your young child’s life and development. Spend some time with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, or neighborhood kids each day and read them some books and educate them on agriculture and its vitality, especially those under five and who are still so developmentally emergent. It is never too early or too late to make reading as a family a priority and strong family value.

Dr. Devereaux suggests that parents do their best to cultivate reading as a lifestyle and that helping your child read more can be as simple as having age-appropriate books in your home. This can be accomplished many ways, from visiting the local library once a week to asking relatives to consider giving a book instead of a toy for birthdays and holiday celebrations.