Who Reads?

An article that I found did a test on which cities read the most and the least. Here are the winners and losers:

The most literate U.S. cities:

1. Minneapolis, Minnesota
2. Seattle, Washington
3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Denver, Colorado
8. Boston, Massachusetts
9. Portland, Oregon
10. San Francisco, California

The least literate U.S. cities:

70. Garland, Texas
71. Fresno, California
72. Arlington, Texas
73. Long Beach, California
74. Anaheim, California
75. San Antonio, Texas
76. Santa Ana, California
77. Corpus Christi, Texas
78. Hialeah, Florida
79. El Paso, Texas

I figured I would see New York City in the top ten. I guess I was wrong. The best one is #78: Hialeah, Florida!! I love this one. Guess where I work? This explains a lot. Now I know why most of the students in the school cannot write a sentence. If the parents aren't reading, neither are the children. In all fairness, they probably didn't count Spanish newspapers when the survey was done. I have to say that California and Texas aren't doing well at all (except for San Francisco). The bottom ten are all Texas and California except of course for Hialeah, Fl. I still can't fathom why people don't read. I understand if you're working tons of hours a week. You kind of don't have time for any leisure activities. I'm sure this is a factor in the bottom ten. I love reading and can't get enough of it. The good thing is that my students do love reading. Almost every afternoon (unless we're behind on work), the children sit down and read their books. They even read it to each other. And those that don't read well get help from the kids that do read well. There is hope!! I developed the love for reading because my mom read a lot when I was a kid. I would sit next to her and read while she was reading. Kids learn by example. If the grown ups aren't reading, chances are the kids aren't reading. Something to keep in mind.