Reading Aloud - a treasure trove for families!
“The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading”. Mem Fox
Did you learn to love reading as a child? If so, what did the adults in your life do to encourage your passion for reading to grow?
I remember, as if it was yesterday, cuddling up with my mum or dad, as they read ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ (amongst many other Roald Dahl books), ‘The Hobbit’, Willard Price’s ‘Adventure Series’ and a host of other wonderful stories. It was the time of day I looked forward to more than any other.
A Scholastic’s Kids and Families Reading Report revealed that only 17% of parents of kids ages 9–11 read aloud to their children. Yet 83% of kids ages 6–17 say being read to is something they really enjoyed.
The ‘tyranny of the urgent’ can see us miss some of the most precious times we could have spent with our boys - the gift of reading stories together. There is good news for those who come home exhausted. Devoting just 15 minutes a day to support your son’s reading can have a significant impact on his achievement.
An analysis comparing the engaged reading time and reading scores of more than 2.2 million students found that students who read or were read to for 15 minutes or more a day saw accelerated reading gains - that is, gains higher than the national average - and students who were immersed in literature just over a half-hour to an hour per day saw the greatest gains of all.
Students who were immersed in literature less than five minutes per day saw the lowest levels of growth, well below the national average. Even students who were immersed in literature 5–14 minutes per day saw sluggish gains that were below the national average.
15 minutes a day seems to be the “magic number” at which students start seeing substantial positive gains in reading achievement, yet less than half of our students are immersed in literature for that amount of time.
The upcoming holiday break will be a great time to re-establish reading routines or perhaps increase already healthy reading habits. If you need to establish a regular reading routine with your son, you may like to link it in with his bedtime ritual (routines can be very beneficial for boys).
If the reading routine includes reading aloud to him, you will be so thankful that by doing so you made a significant contribution to his learning progress and love of life. The special time spent reading together also promotes bonding, helps to build your relationship, and creates lifetime memories for him and you.
"Reading aloud is a prescription for lifelong success for the child and a dose of deep wellbeing for the family”. Pam Allyn
Peter Grimes | Headmaster
References:
Mem Fox (author), Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change their Lives for Ever
Pam Allyn (Senior Vice President, Innovation & Development, Scholastic Education)
Daily Reading Practice and the Magic of 15 Minutes – Renaissance A global leader in pre-K–12 education technology
Link - Renaissance / Magic 15 minutes reading practice
Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Reading and Writing at Home – Primary English Teaching Association Australia (2020)
Link - PETTA//Teaching Resources/Parents guide
Tips for Parents
- Read to them regularly, with expression and in different voices.
- Model reading. Let your child see you read often. It can be cookbooks, magazines, the newspaper, novels or non-fiction.
- Talk about the books or articles you have been reading. This is a great thing to do at dinner time. Share the excitement or intrigue you have experienced.
- Schedule 30 minutes after dinner or every Thursday evening as “Family Reading Time”.
- Start your own “Family Book Club” if your children are between 10-18 years old. If your child is studying a novel in school, why not make that the book for the month?
- Buy books where their name appears. This is a fabulous technique for encouraging reluctant readers! It worked brilliantly with me as a child. I used to be the student who would read the first and last chapter of a book, along with the summary, and write a book report. This all changed when my mother bought me a novel with the main character’s name being Erin. Powerful, yet so simple!
- Find books that come with a CD either in bookstores or the library so your child can listen and follow along. This is also a fantastic way to encourage reluctant readers or to keep the motivation high for those children who are struggling with learning how to read.
- Always give books as at least one part of a birthday, Christmas, Easter, or holiday gift.
- Give books “just because” for teamwork tasks (aka chores) being well done or because you noticed them demonstrating a positive virtue like compassion.
- Take your child to the library regularly. It could be to participate in a library program or just to hang out and read. What about making every second Sunday your family’s library day and follow it up with a hot chocolate so you can all talk about the books you read?
- Read aloud books that have been made into movies and then watch the movie and do a comparison about which was better – the book or the movie.
