BELL COUNTY, Texas — Daisha McCants says she’s been an active reader her whole life, helping her do well in school.
“I was able to comprehend the words and the imaginary, thanks to reading my parents had me reading at a very young age,” said Daisha McCants, Children’s Department of Copper Mountain Library.
She's dedicated her life to helping kids in our community fall in love again with books McCants is a big fan of graphic novels.
“I do have a very active imagination so I can entertain myself in ways that a lot of people who don’t read can’t, I can just sit with a book for hours and I am good to go,” McCants said.
Research shows that reading to your baby in the womb can promote brain activity and early literacy skills. Daisha herself has been reading to kids from newborn to 3-years-old for the past seven years.
“You don’t think you know as they’re seating and reading that they are absorbing everything especially when they are so young, but they really are," McCants said.
Margert Dawson is an average reader and works in a library at Central Texas A&M. She prefers to listen to audiobooks.
“Sometimes the author reads their own book, you can hear how things are pronounced if it is from a different country, so an audiobook helps you emerge yourself into the world," said Dawson, Co-Head of Public Services and Outreach.
In Bell County public schools, testing in reading has changed since the pandemic, but still begins in the 3rd grade.
Haily Rambo with ESC 12 says there has been significant recovery in testing scores since the change.
“Bell County they are pretty closely aligned to the state averages," said Rambo, Coordinator for Test and Accountability.
She advises you and our neighbors and their kids to pick up more books this summer.
“Summer Slide is a real thing, so the more books and reading material you can give to kids they better they will perform on the test but more importantly the better they will be prepared to be a literate adult and functioning member of society,” Rambo said.
