MLK Reads’ weeklong summer reading camp allows students to refresh before heading back to school.

Screen time. It’s a constant battle. Kids want more, more, more. Parents, on the other hand, wish children would do nearly anything else—go play outside, visit with friends or simply curl up with a book. With the constant distraction of iPads, TVs and social media, it can be hard to get kids interested in reading. But it’s never too early to try. As parents, it’s important for us to expose children to reading early and often so they can build their language development, vocabulary and cognitive skills.

Unfortunately, far too often, our children are still falling behind in reading. In 2009, a study revealed nearly 50 percent of fourth graders in central Arkansas were reading below grade level. Alarmed by these results, Second Baptist Church Downtown (2BC) reached out to MLK Elementary in Little Rock to help. MLK Reads was born.

With the support of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, Entergy and Dollar General, 2BC has provided MLK kindergarten through third grade students reading below grade level with classroom and family support. Church members have tutored students in twice-weekly sessions at school and, to prevent academic “summer slide,” held two one-week long summer reading camps.

Over the years, MLK Reads has continued to grow. Today, it has 70 tutors from 2BC and organizations like Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Entergy and Central Arkansas Water. Over the past four years, more than 150 students have received tutoring. More than 95 percent have improved their reading levels and approximately half have achieved grade-level reading and graduated from the program. There’s still more work to be done. But MLK Reads is making great strides toward its goal of helping children achieve grade-level reading.

(Also see 7 Ways Parents Can Help Reduce Chronic School Absences.)