Children's literacy campaign - we'd love to know your thoughts

An excellent idea. Too many children are leaving school, illiterate.

At my GP surgery we have set up books for adults and children to read while waiting for their appointment or take home if they wish. We would prefer that if one is taken, one is brought to replace it. The children's books in particular are very popular.

Definitely, yes.

Reading was not only my own route out of poverty, but provided me with a measure of 'escape' from a difficult home life and a was window onto a world that was very different from my own. So, I'm happy to support anything that will give other children similar opportunities.

Yes, absolutely.

Reading will open the world to children, even the less academic children are enabled. They can find their own route through life if they can read and garner information.

I would like to know:
1. Will the project value and build on the excellent work in improving reading that is already taking place in primary schools?
2. Will it look at the broad range of literacies essential for the modern world?
3. Will it avoid giving commercial preference to individual companies?
4. What is the precise definition of a "confident" reader and one who is "not reading as well as they should"?
5. Will the project have clear aims, agreed success criteria and a structure for reporting results?

I am passionate about improving children's literacy, but I have seen too many well-intentioned, ill-thought-through campaigns over the years to give unqualified support. I hope people like Michael Rosen will be involved. There is already so much expertise out there.

Having spent a working lifetime supporting early literacy of course I would support a project that helps children, at risk of not learning to read, to read. However i echo some of Mamie's questions. Will the project work with families of the children as well as the kids?

The children who fail to read (and do not have a specific learning difficulty) often have under-developed spoken language so will language development also form part of the programme? Again there is so much knowledge & skill out there on what helps that I hope it is not re-inventing the wheel!

Fantastic idea and I would support it, too.

Not sure where The Sun and Children's Literacy fit together. There's a campaign (Child Eyes UK) to try and keep papers like The Sun away from children in supermarket displays. It would be good to see them clean up their act.

We think that any project that will teach children literacy, to read and, mostly, to communicate will be rewarding.

Brilliant idea. My 2 granddaughters are excellent readers and could both read well before they even started school. My grandson will be starting reception in a weeks time and we struggle to get him to even sit still long enough to listen to a story never mind learn to read. I know you should not compare siblings but I worry .

Chatting to the chair of governors at my grandchildren's school he told me that there were children in the school who's only book at home was the Argos catalogue !

Excellent questions BTW Mamie .

I would have serious reservations about this. Mamie and Penstemmon have outlined them vey well, but I would certainly not wish to be associated with anything connected with The Sun, a paper which has a dishonourable reputation in many areas (BTW still never bought in Liverpool and its environs) and which, I understand, requires a reading age of just 9.

I would suggest that any campaigns need to be aimed at getting more parents to read stories to their children from an early age.

Sit them on a knee give them a cuddle and make it a cosy happy time. I suspect this is the biggest key to success.

Children need to enjoy the reading and story telling experience for itself and not just be reading the school reading book as a homework chore.

Switch off televisions and read to the children when possible.

My reservation would be that it is important not to equate confident reading at age 11 with forcing tiny children to try and learn to read before they are ready. Success at 11 does not automatically equate with reading skills being forced on 2 year olds.

As others have said, the critical factor is encouraging a joy in reading; and that comes from home - from the regular cuddle with parents and G/parents and stories shared. And simply from talking with children and listening to what they have to say.

I'm all for improving the reading ability of chidren. A large percentage of prisoners, both male and fenale, as functionally illiterate.

Off the top of my head just a few questions occur:-

1) What method of assessing children's baseline reading ability, progress and 'confidence' will be used? Will it be a straightforward reading age, a quotient or another method?
2) 'Children from poorer backgrounds' is too general a term. What specific groups will be targeted?
3) How much has the role of fathers, grandfathers and other male role models been considered?
4) What methods are to be employed for children with specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia?
5) With regard to the usual role of a caring parent, has the needs of Looked After Children, a group who consistently underachieve, been considered?

I'm not especially worried by the inclusion of the Sun within 'a range of media' . I would certainly support an initiative which will fund, manage and deliver a well thought out Literacy Initiative

Having regard to the questions already raised, I'm all for it!
A large percentage of the claimants I see say they can't work because they're illiterate.
I can only quote Ignatius Loyala, 'give me the child until he's seven and I'll give you the man'.
It's easier to learn when you're a child than an adult

Good reading starts, not with the child but with the home.

As a general rule if a child comes from a home where:
1) there are books, not necessarily lots of them, and the child sees their parents reading and using literacy skills in their lives.
2) Their parents talk to them, nothing fancy just the general back and forth of family conversation.
Then reading is not a problem.

Helping the children means helping the parents, address their literacy skills (or lack of them) and teach them how to talk with other adults and with children. Only when the parents have literacy skills and can see its power can we hope to help their children.

Some years ago my DMiL taught a reception class in an area where the local council was buying up the little terrace houses around it and housing problem families in them.

My DMiL spoke of children starting school who had been talked at, talked over and talked through, but never talked to. They had never seen a book or been read to. They had never held a pencil. Their vocabulary was limited and they struggled to understand under and over, and, up and down. They couldn't recognise shapes or distinguish between a square and a triangle. My DMiL was expected to send up to the next year children who had securely grasped the fundamentals of reading. She said it was impossible as she had to spend two terms teaching them the basics of shape and colour recognition, improve their vocabulary and get them familiar with the concept of books and reading before she could even start to teach them to read. Meanwhile the children from literate homes had already grasped the principles of reading, were comfortable with books and enjoyed reading.

Good reading starts with not with the child but with the home

whenim Not sure where The Sun and Children's Literacy fit together

Perhaps because they think that children who may have more difficulty with reading and enjoying literature and who may not have a lot of books available at home are more likely to come from families who may read The Sun rather than The Telegraph, Times etc? I hope that doesn't sound pompous, it is not meant to, and I hope you can see what I mean. If they link up with say The Telegraph they may be 'preaching to the converted'.
It would be good if that newspaper could clean up its act, I am only going on what other people complain about it as I have not seen it for years and years.

Re-reading my post above, I am wondering if I need some lessons in literacy. I hope you can follow it.

rosequartz I followed it perfectly and agree with every word that you said.

I didn't want to sound patronising, hope it didn't come across as that!

Personally, I do think they need to look at the ways children are taught to read, because I do think that methods of teaching today do not suit all children. Perhaps some schools are more flexible in their approach than others, but certainly phonics is not the answer for every child imo.

Most school use a mixture of methods Rose such as phonics and 'look and say'.

I think we're being a bit intellectually snobby here too. While I'd never have the Sun in my house, it's the paper if choice for many people.

Well, I was trying not to be intellectually snobby, as I am not an intellectual and I hope I am not a snob. However, I do think when starting a campaign like this, like marketing you have to recognise what is your target audience. I do realise there may be many people out there who read more intellectual newspapers than The Sun and their children may be so engrossed in their iPads or whatever that they never read a book, which may well be the problem right across the board.

I wasn't singling you out Rose hope you didn't think I was? I just think we're getting hung up on the Sun being involved!

Aka While I'd never have the Sun in my house, it's the paper if choice for many people.

That is why it is probably a good one to pick. However, I don't think it is a good idea to limit the campaign to just one newspaper.
There may be many parents out there who are very eager for their child to learn to read well and enjoy books, but who are unable to read or are not at ease with reading themselves for various reasons and are therefore unable to help their children at home. Perhaps English is not their first language and whilst they may have learnt to speak it they may not be at ease with reading in a foreign language.
Certainly if I was living in another country which did not use English I might well pick up the language on a conversational basis but would probably not read books in that language.

Rose it isn't limited to one newspaper. As I understand it from the OP they are 'working with a range of media'.