Reading is Fundamental

My children love to tease me about discussing what I read in the Wall Street Journal at the dinner table, but guess what; the dinner table is one of the places I got key pieces of my education, so I'm paying it forward. This is just one example of reading and talking about what you read. The more you read, the more various pieces of what you've read start to interconnect. Reading isn't just about reading books, magazines and newspapers though. It's about reading labels, reading advertisements, reading the fine print, reading disclosures, reading the unit pricing at the supermarket, and thinking critically about what you've read. In order to make informed decisions in your daily life, Reading is Fundamental.

I remember watching television as a child, and commercials would come on advertising something as new and improved or 25% better or 20% bigger. My father would say "25% better than what?" Over and over he said this about claims on cereal boxes and laundry detergent, and as commercials came across the TV screen. He taught me that you had to read the label to find out, and that usually the answer was not what you were expecting.

The supermarket is chock full of reading material that is often surprising. Teaching your children how to read labels, how to read unit pricing and decipher the best deal, and how to read through marketing claims is a terrific life lesson. It prepares them for critical reading, thinking and decision making later in life.

My key point here is not that critical reading helps you be a good supermarket shopper (although this is a good life skill). My point is that taking the time to read the details is essential to making informed decisions, and informed decisions are at the heart of making economic sense in a world of seductive marketing and invisible money. Here are some other examples where reading is fundamental:

• Pre-approved Credit Card Solicitations
• Free Credit Report Offers
• Any Offer of "3 free months of membership"
• Mortgage Terms
• CD and Money Market Account Rates

These are only a few, but I think you get the point. Like my Dad used to tell me: "don't focus on the big print they want you to read, read the fine print next to the asterisk".

Note: Since I talk about commercials in this piece, I have to give credit where it's due. As these ideas came together I remembered the little voice from TV commercials of my childhood saying: "Reading, It's Fundamental".

Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year.

In 1966, former teacher Margaret McNamara brought a bag of used books to four boys in Washington, D.C., whom she tutored in reading. When she told the children they could each pick out a book to keep, their astonishment and delight led her to discover that these children, and many of their classmates, had never owned any books.

By that summer, Mrs. McNamara had gathered a group of school volunteers, and on November 3, 1966, they launched the book distribution and reading motivation program they called Reading Is Fundamental.

From November 1966 through the early 1970s, RIF expanded from a pilot project at three elementary schools in Washington, D.C., to a program reaching children in 60 of the city's public schools. More about RIF...