DECATUR COUNTY, GA — Students in Decatur County are reading below the state average, according to education data, and a former educator says the third grade is a critical milestone for measuring a child's reading development.
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Michelle Croft worked in the school system for 12 years, teaching students in Georgia and overseas. She says third graders are a good predictor of how well a student is able to read.
"Third grade is a crucial age because they're learning to read in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. And they're expected by third grade to have been able to develop their comprehension skills and their awareness of print and how print works and how we read," Croft said.
According to the Georgia Council on Literacy, 62 percent of third-grade students in Georgia are not reading at the recommended level.
Croft says exposing children to reading while still in the womb and continuing to develop reading skills over time will help grow children's reading levels.
Local parent Kendyl Peak says it will take the community coming together to foster a love of reading to help students improve.
"Even if kids are not reading on a level they should be, if you have the opportunity and give them the chances, and just like if they're walking downtown and they see a bookstore and they come in and they pick up something on their own that they're interested in, and then they learned that material, it can help them grow on themselves," Peak said.
The library offers a summer reading program to help keep kids engaged during the summer.
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