Want to boost your child's chances of finishing high school or going to college? Load up your shelves with books. A new study out of the University of Nevada found that simply having books in the home was a better predictor of a child's future education level than was how much schooling their parents had. Having a library of 25 books (children's or adult) in the home gave children a greater chance of getting an extra year of education. A library of 500 or more led to an extra 3.2 years of education!
Now, it's likely the effect does not come from just having books in the home, but rather how they are used and regarded. But it is a good reminder to all of us to keep fodder for young minds handy...so head out to the library or the bookstore and stock those shelves.
