Fewer children are reading frequently for fun, and the blame could be on the parents.
A new Scholastic survey found that while more than half of parents read to their children when they are under 5-years-old, that number drastically decreases once the child learns to read independently.
That percentage of parents who stopped reading to their kids once they hit the 6-11 age group may be the reason the survey found less children reading for fun.
The survey found that 40 percent of children ages 6-11 who's parents stopped reading to them, wished the reading would continue.
"A lot of parents assume that once kids begin to read independently, that now that is the best thing for them to do," Maggie McGuire, the vice president for a website for parents operated by Scholastic, told New York Times.
When parents read to their children throughout elementary school it's apparently linked to an overall greater love for reading, according to the study.
Of the children studied in the 6-10 age bracket, 41 percent of frequent readers were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.
Not only does reading aloud to your children at a later age help them become better readers, but it also helps strengthen the bond between parent and child.
"My mom would read to me every night. It was our special time and it inspired me to want to read on my own," a 15-year-old boy from Florida said in the study.
