fbpx Skip to content

STAY UP TO DATE.Ā Join our email list Ā»

First Things First First Things First

Latest News

News and happenings about First Things First

The most important skills kids need to succeed in life

Important skills

We all want our children to do well in school, and itā€™s generally understood that reading is the most important skill for academic success. (Thereā€™s plenty of research to support this common-sense belief; reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a strong predictor of high school graduation and college attendance.)

Success in school doesnā€™t necessarily equal success in life, of course, and the definition of ā€˜success in lifeā€™ is subjective and hard to measure, but a fairly recent survey by the Pew Research Center looked at the skills that American adults think are ā€œmost important for children to get ahead in the world today.ā€ The results? Communication skills were identified as most important by 90%, followed closely behind by reading (86%). (Those answering the survey were not limited to one ā€œmost importantā€ skill.)

reading-chartCommunication, reading and writing (also identified as a ā€œmost importantā€ by 3/4 of American adults) are all skills related to language and literacy, and they develop together starting in early childhood. (There are studies to show that, too; for example, research has linked vocabulary at age 3 to reading comprehension level in tenth grade.)

So, if we want our kids to be successful in school and life, and we know that language and literacy skills are essential, and that they start developing from birth, what can we do to help our babies, toddlers and preschoolers develop these skills?

Thereā€™s more research that shows that consistently talking and reading with children, starting from birth, can make a big difference. The more words that young children learn, the more prepared theyā€™ll be to read and comprehend later on. And even more than quantity, itā€™s the quality of words that makes the biggest difference.

Read On Arizona’s Smart Talk is a bi-lingual language and literacy awareness campaign to promote the simple and effective ways parents can have quality conversations with their babies and toddlers during everyday life. Check out the videos, posters and other information.

If we want our students to be good readers, we need to support language and vocabulary development in their early years. If we do that well, we can help children arrive at school ready to succeed and have a much better chance of reading proficiently by the end of third grade. Then theyā€™ll have the skills to be successful later in life. No matter how they come to define that for themselves.


As Arizona Literacy Director, Terri Clark leadsĀ Read On Arizona, a public/private partnership of agencies, philanthropic organizations and community stakeholders committed to creating an effective continuum of supports to improve language and literacy outcomes for Arizonaā€™s children from birth through age 8. She can be reached atĀ tclark@readonarizona.org.

First Things First is a founding partner of Read On Arizona.

Stay Up To Date.

Join our email list to keep up with the latest news and information from FTF

Send me:

Ā© First Things First. All Rights Reserved. ā€¢ PrivacyĀ Policy ā€¢ Accessibility ā€¢ WebsiteĀ Feedback ā€¢ Ombudsman-Citizens Aide