Soon to be released research from the Centre for Independent Studies has found that 20 per cent of students, and 30 per cent from disadvantaged areas, don’t understand enough words when they enter school to be able to learn how to read or thrive in other subjects.

The building blocks for literacy start very early in life – well before a child starts school or pre-school. The years from birth to five years are critical for building the skills children need to learn to read and write and a child’s early literacy skills are a predictor of later literacy and academic achievement.

Professor Frank Oberklaid, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health has called on parents to read, sing and share rhymes with their children, from as early as soon after birth.

“One of the very best thing that parents can do with young children is getting into the habit of reading to them every single day,” Professor Frank Oberklaid said.

“We’re at a critical point where we need to ensure that parents recognise they all have responsibilities that sit alongside what happens in an early learning context and reading to children is vital,” he said.

Professor Oberklaid also called on governments to embrace the research on early childhood and to invest in high quality preschool and childcare.

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute has partnered with NewsCorp Australia  to encourage Australian parents to help ‘raise a reader’.

As part of the ‘Raise a Reader’ campaign, News Corp will donate 10,000 books to distribute nationally to children via reading support programs, including the Let’s Read program, a collaboration between the Centre for Community Child Health and The Smith Family.

Watch Professor Frank Oberklaid on Studio 10 on Monday 2 February 2016.

You can also watch Professor Frank Oberklaid’s Weekend Today interview on 31 January 2016.

For more reading tips and tools developed by early literacy and early childhood experts visit the Let’s Read website.