I remembered an old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial, in which, by total chance, someone’s chocolate bar would wind up in a jar of peanut butter.  So today, I busted into a colleague’s office looking to raid a jar of candy on the corner of her desk.  Lately, Reese’s Cups have been there – but not today.  Incidentally, Kit Kats and peanut butter may be one cut above.  These sweet, toothy thoughts remind me that when two seemingly unrelated topics come together, they can produce insights that neither could alone.

For most of us, our destinies are continually adjusted in the aftermath of our choices.  And our choices are continuously adjusted by what we know through our experiences, what we are taught, and what we learn.  So, perhaps the most significant skill we can give our kids is the ability to read and, even more, the desire to do so without direction, cajoling, or bribes. 

Ironically, tonight, when I got home and clicked on the TV, the first movie on my Netflix Home Screen was an oldie but a goodie - The Adjustment Bureau.  The script of this movie leads viewers to think that we are constantly dancing between free will and fate.  Which is it anyway?  Perhaps early literacy fits into this scheme – and investments in early childhood education direct the fate of our littles more than we know.

From the moment children are born their paths start to unfold. They interact with the world as they grow, gathering experiences and forming thoughts and opinions. Among the most critical of these early experiences is learning how to read – and reading is not just a skill, it's a portal. It opens doors to new worlds, ideas, and possibilities. Just as the Adjustment Bureau had the power to change the course of a person’s destiny, so too does the power of early literacy in shaping a child's future.

Consider, for a moment, that we each have a book of our life—much like the books in the movie that map out our fate. The early chapters of this book are written mainly by external forces: parents, society, genetics, and circumstances. But as one learns to read, they can edit, revise, and rewrite their narratives.

Early literacy means a child is not just a passive participant in their story. Instead, they become the main character, the narrator, and the author. They gain more control over their path with every word they read and understand. They can question, learn, dream, and, most importantly, choose.  Consider two planes that depart a runway on seemingly parallel paths.  However, if their flights vary by just one half of one degree, after one thousand miles of travel, they are likely over a hundred miles away from one another.

So, reading in early childhood doesn’t just benefit the individual. It sends ripples throughout their life, affecting their academic performance, self-confidence, and socio-economic standing. And just as the Adjustment Bureau works behind the scenes to align a person’s path, the foundational skills acquired from early literacy quietly shape a child's future.

The idea of merging the world of The Adjustment Bureau with early literacy is to understand that we're not entirely at the mercy of preordained paths. We have the power to adjust our destinies. And one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal is the ability to read. So, next time you pick up a book to read with a child, remember you're not just sharing a story. You're adjusting to destiny.  Because sometimes the chocolate bar doesn’t fall into the peanut butter.  Someone picks up a Kit Kat and runs it across the top of the opened jar.