Читать книгу Help Your Child Love Reading - Alison David - Страница 8

There are lots of reasons why children’s reading is struggling. Its position, as a staple of entertainment and relaxation, has become challenged by hectic family lives and a simple lack of time; there has been too much emphasis placed on reading as a skill and not as a pleasure; and it has suffered in comparison to shiny new gadgets, devices and screen time in general.

Of course the age range covered in this book encompasses all of childhood so the demands and distractions vary hugely depending on the age of your child. In the pre-school years, you will have a lot more control over what your child gets up to. When school starts, the demands of after-school activities, clubs, homework and the wish to be with friends, will all impinge on the time you have together, and the time your child has separately, to read.

Meanwhile technology controls so much of the time available these days. Children of two won’t be texting their friends (yet!), but they may well be playing games on a mobile phone. Teenagers will be texting their friends as well as playing games on their phone. Throughout the book I have provided age- or developmental-stage specific advice about how to free up time, regardless of the daily demands, to help your child enjoy reading.

One of the things that parents most often tell me is that they wish their child would read for pleasure, or read more than they do. Often they sound as if they think it’s a lost cause. But it really is possible to change your family’s and your child’s habits. You just need to get involved to help make it happen.

The trouble is that we live in a very challenging world where time and energy are routinely sapped. As parents we are the ones who keep the show on the road, and we are under constant pressure as we try to juggle working life with home life, getting children up and to school, focusing attention on our work, their needs, meals and clean clothes, keeping the house in some semblance of order and supervising homework. Parents have told me they feel overwhelmed. The idea of making time each day for their child’s reading, beyond schoolwork, seems like yet another thing to do.

Don’t despair if this sounds like your life. The good news is it is not hard to find time for reading and it is absolutely not another chore. In fact it’s a huge pleasure for you and your child. You will come to cherish the time you spend together.

EXPERT VIEW

Reading together can be a way of relaxing before bedtime and may promote more restful, easier sleep, so it’s well worth the time spent. And children benefit hugely from having you to themselves for a period of time, even if it’s just ten minutes.

Dr Amanda Gummer

One of my recent research projects involved a very simple task for families with children at primary school. It was over a summer holiday and I asked parents to commit to at least ten minutes every day reading to or with their child. The results were amazing! In nearly every case the amount of reading and the enthusiasm for reading increased markedly. The response of Tariq (age 8) when he was back at school after the holidays was typical of the ones I got from just about all the children: ‘I would like to read more and more each day. I love reading with my mum and dad.’ One mum told me that before the project her daughter did not read for pleasure very much. Time was the main problem and the lack of a reading routine exacerbated it. The mother felt very guilty. After the holidays had ended, Rose (age 6) simply said ‘I enjoyed it. I felt jolly and excited. When my mum finished reading I wanted her to read more.’ This was on the back of simply setting aside ten minutes each day.