Is Reading 20 Minutes a Day Enough?

"Read for 20 minutes every night" is on homework sheets everywhere. Parents reasonably ask: is 20 minutes enough? Is it too much for a six-year-old? And is that famous "1.8 million words a year" chart real?

This guide goes back to the study the chart's numbers come from, explains what they do and don't show, and gives a sensible, age-by-age way to think about daily reading time.

Where the 1.8 million words figure comes from

The popular chart traces back to a 1988 study by Anderson, Wilson and Fielding. Fifth graders kept daily logs of how they spent their time outside school. In the study's Table 3, a child at the 90th percentile for book reading read books for about 21 minutes a day, which the authors estimated at about 1,823,000 words a year. The child at the 50th percentile read books for about 4.6 minutes a day, about 282,000 words a year.

Two things are worth knowing. First, the words-per-year figures are estimates: the researchers multiplied minutes per day by reading speed and extrapolated to a full year. Second, the study found an association, not a guarantee. Time spent reading books was the best predictor of children's reading growth from second to fifth grade, but no single number of minutes promises a particular test score.

So is 20 minutes enough?

For most children, 20 minutes of real reading a day is a meaningful amount: in the 1988 study it would have put a child near the top tenth of their class for book reading. Researchers at LUCiD put it plainly: there isn't a clear consensus about where the specific figure of 20 minutes came from, it's a guide, and a day where you only manage 5 minutes is fine. They also warn that forcing children to read is likely to have the opposite effect.

In other words, 20 minutes is long enough to matter and short enough to do every day. Consistency beats the exact number.

How long should a child read each day, by age?

There is no official age-by-age rule. These ranges are a practical starting point, not a standard:

• Ages 3 to 5: short, shared sessions. Being read to counts. Several 5-minute stories can add up to 20.
• Ages 6 to 7: 10 to 20 minutes, often split in two. Early readers tire fast; listening along helps.
• Ages 8 to 10: 20 minutes of independent reading is a common school goal, plus anything they choose for fun.
• Ages 11 to 15: 20 to 30 minutes, and let them choose what they read: graphic novels, sports writing and series all count.

How to make 20 minutes actually happen

• Pick a fixed time, such as after dinner or before lights out, so it isn't negotiated every night.
• Use a visible timer so the end is clear. Kids resist open-ended tasks more than finite ones.
• Let them choose the topic. Interest does more for stamina than any reward chart.
• Track it. A simple log (try our free printable 20-minute reading log) makes streaks visible.
• If 20 minutes is a battle, start at 10 and build up. See our guide for parents whose child hates reading.

Where Time-2-Read fits

Time-2-Read writes an illustrated story around your child, at the reading level you set, with a 20-minute timer that starts when they begin. Tap any word to hear it read aloud. It's screen time, and we won't pretend otherwise: the point is that it's 20 minutes of screen time that's actually reading.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Anderson, Wilson & Fielding (1988), "Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school" (technical report on ERIC, ED275992, full text PDF; Table 3)
• LUCiD (University of Manchester research centre), "Supporting daily reading for the reluctant reader"