Please read to your kids

When my children were older I trained as an English teacher mainly for the teaching of reading in primary schools. Many of the methods at the time were experimental and seemed to change often. When I was learning to read in the 1940's there were few childrens books. My Mother would read from a newspaper following the words with her finger so that I could see. I could read well before the age of 4. So please if you are reading to pre school children please make sure they can see the words you are reading, it is amazing how quickly they will learn to recognise lots of words and you will be giving them a head start when they start school. Look and Say might be a bit old fashioned but it works!

It's a good thing to do for many reasons.
But.
Let's not catastrophe.
I was not read to nor was my cousin or anyone I knew when young.
She became a deputy headmistress and i am moderately literate.
Ditto siblings and others i started school with.
I think it is was largely a class issue.

I remember my grandmother giving me a copy of Girl of the Limberlost too, madeleine 45 ! Happy memories.

I read to both my children before bedtime until they were 10 and told me tactfully they 'could read their own stories now' But one never read anything at all for pleasure until I - and he - discovered Michael Hardcastle's football stories. I used to pretend to be too tired after the working day to finish them, and that he would have to wait until the following evening. He knew where we kept a large torch upstairs and after lights out, used it to read under the bedclothes...

I was read to every night as a child by my father. I still remember where I was and which books. I read to my children every night; sometimes the three of us would be in my bed and we’d each choose a book and read to each other. When my grandson was born we read to him but when he was about 2yrs 6m he chose his own book and I’d read that to him. He stayed with us most weekends so the deal was he had to tell me what I’d read to him last weekend then I’d read the next chapter. He was always able to describe the story from the previous weekend. I read to my children until they were about 8yo. It is so important to read to children; preferably sitting beside them.

My grandchildren were read to by their parents, and myself, at bedtime and during the day. They loved it, but, sadly, not one of the five are avid readers like their mothers and I are.

rowyn

I suddenly feel rather like a child, who is being told what to do, in no uncertain terms, with the threat of a punishment hovering in the background.

Yes,nurturing a love of books is wonderful, but not if reading to children becomes a stern duty rather than a sharing of enjoyment.
And yes, I did read to my daughters , practically from birth.

Me too 🤣.
I always read to my children, one still loves to read. The other says he’s always hated reading, despite learning to read quickly - he still managed to get a degree but says he’s only ever read just enough to pass exams etc.
I enjoyed reading until secondary school then having to read Shakespeare and Charles Dickens killed it for me for a long time.
One of my WI friends always posts at the end of the year on FB a list with photos of the book’s covers of all the books she has read during the year - what’s that all about ??

I stumbled across Bookmark reading charity some years ago when I was feeling really concerned about this very issue. My children and grandchildren all grew up in a reading for pleasure culture , for enjoyment . The benefits to their confidence curiosity and speaking and listening skills have been obvious and most of them even continue to enjoy reading! Now I can benefit from volunteering online or in person in schools with this wonderful supportive community . They have their “ Mind the Gap” campaign running for the Year of Literacy . I hope this short clip has attached , it’s worth a look . 🙂📚

www.facebook.com/share/r/17DVjknUCf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Frogs perhaps she belongs to a group that shares what they’ve read. There’s one on GN. I’ve added the link.

www.gransnet.com/forums/books_book_club/1354770-2026-50-Books-a-Year-Challenge

My 50+ children would find it very odd😄😄.

But I read every night to them until they were way beyond being able to read for themselves, we just all liked to end our day with the pleasure of enjoying a good book.

I did the same for my grandchildren when we looked after them, and we went from holiday to holiday etc and simply picked up where we left off.

Emelie321

I remember my grandmother giving me a copy of Girl of the Limberlost too, madeleine 45 ! Happy memories.

I read to both my children before bedtime until they were 10 and told me tactfully they 'could read their own stories now' But one never read anything at all for pleasure until I - and he - discovered Michael Hardcastle's football stories. I used to pretend to be too tired after the working day to finish them, and that he would have to wait until the following evening. He knew where we kept a large torch upstairs and after lights out, used it to read under the bedclothes...

Girl of the Limberlost

I'd never heard of that book.
However, I do know a Garden Centre of that name - perhaps the owners knew and loved the book!

My 50+ children would find it very odd😄😄

Not all of mine are that age but yes, they might find it odd too.

I've just put more books into the spare bedroom so they can choose from 'the library' when they come.

larana

every night from the day they are born until kindergarten. I promise you they'll be literate. do it even at the end of a long day and you're tired as hell and it's not fun and you hate it. just DO IT

It’s so important for children to learn to read . Sadly there are many adults who, for various reason.s are unable to read and it creates so many barriers for them in their life and it’s so much more difficult to learn as an adult. I volunteer with a literacy charity teaching adults to read, it is so rewarding seeing their progress and increased confidence.

Neither my sister nor I have degrees - both of our daughters have doctorates and we all credit it to their love of reading.

My sister and I were both single parents whose marriages had ended. Finances were extremely limited but we both read to our daughters from day one and took them to the library every week for story time.

Mollygo

Frogs perhaps she belongs to a group that shares what they’ve read. There’s one on GN. I’ve added the link.

www.gransnet.com/forums/books_book_club/1354770-2026-50-Books-a-Year-Challenge

Maybe - she also has specially made Christmas cards for us all with the books listed on there too.

I was so tired sometimes when the youngest was little so I used to lie on her bed and we'd read at night.
Sometimes I'd drop off to sleep and she'd carry on reading to me.

I read to my girls every night from the day they were born until well into their teens.

During lockdown, and for some years after, I read to my two Italian granddaughters once or twice a week on a Zoom call. Sometimes they would just listen, sometimes they had the same book and would follow the English and sometimes I would read in English and they would follow in their Italian book. We only stopped when the older one started getting a lot of homework and so time was limited. I still miss it.
I'm pleased to say they are both great readers and I like to think that I contributed to that a bit.

One of my boys, who turned out to be very bright indeed, didn’t want to be read to. After a boisterous day with his elder brother (who loved being read to), playgroup then school, he just wanted to be left alone to think and use his imagination. I could hear him chattering to himself in his cot/bed. I wish I knew what it was all about!

Both my children learnt to read very early, as did I. I don’t remember teaching them. They just picked it up. It is astonishing when you consider it, that almost everyone,
including very young children, learns to decipher the strange symbols and codes of printed language.

Allira

I was so tired sometimes when the youngest was little so I used to lie on her bed and we'd read at night.
Sometimes I'd drop off to sleep and she'd carry on reading to me.

Oh I remember that with children and grandchildren.
Especially DGS with the plaintive “You’re dozing again, Grandma.”

Once my children could read for themselves, they did not want to be read to, although I would have been very happy to continue.

Perhaps that was because they both preferred fact to fiction and their interests were very different

Apologies if it upsets people but from what I see most parents don't give a hoot. Unless it is an app on a mobile phone they don't want to know.

When DGD was very small and learning to read, I'd read some of the lines and she'd read another.

We were reminiscing about this the other day, she can still recite it ten years on.
This was one of her favourites 😁 🦉🦉🦉

I agree about reading to our children and I also believe in saying nursery rhymes with babies from 3 months onwards, and doing the actions.Toddlers love them.

keepingquiet

I think the horse has bolted from that stable...my older GCs are avid readers, but my little GD just doesn't see the point in reading books.

She would just rather watch Disney cartoons.

I find it tragic and there will be a price to pay...

My GS was the same, so I would not let him watch unless he had the subtitles on.

Allira

When DGD was very small and learning to read, I'd read some of the lines and she'd read another.

We were reminiscing about this the other day, she can still recite it ten years on.
This was one of her favourites 😁 🦉🦉🦉

I did a training course at my son's school as his reading was behind. One of the techniques was to read alternate paragraphs with him sitting close so he could read along with you and you could fill in words he did not know to keep the flow going. Reading age jumped from 7 to 12 in just 4 weeks.

Spelling? now that is an ongoing issue, because the education dept decided that is was not important and it was dropped from the curriculum for 5 years.