This did WONDERS for my oldest daughter's reading skills in 1st grade and now, half way through her 2nd grade, she doesn't read anything below a 5th grade level. We toss books at her and she gobbles them up. We dispensed with our TV by accident 1.5 years ago - had work done on the house and never got around to putting the dish back up. Now I can't bear to re-install the darn thing as I'm awakened to its hypnotic destructiveness. In hindsight it was a significant distraction to reading and other educational activities. More than the kids' reading skills have improved. The girls interact, play and socialize more with each other and with us their parents. They pursue other kinds of learning activities, arts and crafts, cooking, cleaning, and gardening - time that was formerly spent in front of the TV.